Ole Miss put its young arms to work in first midweek game
The first midweek game of the season was fairly uneventful for No. 4 Ole Miss baseball though it did allow for the younger arms of the bullpen to get some work in.
Through four games Ole Miss (4-0) played only its second nine-inning game of the season on Tuesday, beating Arkansas State 11-3. The result was never in question after the second inning, which created an opportunity for head coach Mike Bianco to start working on bullpen depth.
Freshman JT Quinn got his first career start after making his Ole Miss debut last Friday in the opener against Delaware. The right-hander picked up his first career win, working 4.1 innings and giving up three runs – all earned – on three hits while striking out five Red Wolve batters and walking four others.
It was not a completely extended outing but it was one that could be notable in building the bullpen for the rest of the season, depending on the long-term prognosis of ace Hunter Elliott.
Head coach Mike Bianco addressed Elliott’s status after Tuesday’s game. The sophomore experienced forearm tightness after his start last Friday and had a MRI done out of precaution.
“It was really nice to see JT Quinn get a start. You could see the nerves in the first inning but then settled in, pitched really well,” Bianco said. “But I thought, probably, sitting there watching (it was) probably a lot like (Grayson) Saunier where there’s so much adrenaline used up and long innings sitting on the bench and was just kind of out gas coming out there in the fifth.”
Behind Quinn the youth of the Ole Miss bullpen was put on display on Tuesday.
Freshmen Cole Ketchum and Brayden Jones along with sophomore Cole Tolbert making Ole Miss debuts. Ketchum and Jones worked an inning apiece while Tolbert went a third of an inning in the top of the 8th.
Senior Mitch Murrell was the first out of the pen while Sam Tookoian made his second appearance of the season as did Mason Nichols. Nichols warmed up twice during the Delaware series but the games got out of hand and the situations did not warrant him coming out of the pen.
“We got a lot of young arms. They’re throwing well,” said Kemp Alderman, who worked behind the plate on Tuesday. “Going out there and the main thing is pitching with confidence and pitching how they have their whole life. Not going out there and getting sped up or trying to do too much and trusting their self and trusting their stuff.”
Jack Dougherty is getting the Friday start against No. 13 Maryland replacing Elliott, for at least this weekend.
Building depth was the main thing on the pitching checklist for Bianco entering the season but now it moved straight to the top and put an express rush on it if the news for Elliott does not improve this week.
