Ole Miss cruised to an 8-0 Friday afternoon against Eastern Kentucky to pick up win number 4 on the year and take a 1-0 lead in the weekend series.
Hunter Elliott returned to Swazye field for his first start there since 2023. He was nothing short of sensational, improving his great start in Texas for the opener against Arizona. Elliott would throw six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and tying his career-high 10 Ks. He would also throw six innings for the first time since his legendary performance against Oklahoma in the College World Series. He was only in the mid-70s in his pitch count to get through the six, and I would expect by the time SEC play comes around, he will run later into ball games, but for now, the staff will continue to build him up.
He seems to have unlocked a new level to his game. The velocity is up a tick from freshman, sitting in the low 90s early and dropping to the upper 80s later in his outings. He is still not a fireballer and never will be, but his ball misses bats. His change-up was the most dominant pitch of the afternoon, frequently being the put-away pitch. He also seems to have developed a much better slider than he used in his freshman season.
Mason Morris was stellar in relief. He was lights out through three innings to close this one out. Giving up just one hit, walking none, and striking out three in 37 pitches out of the pen. The pitching was efficient from both Rebel pitchers today, albeit against a pretty anemic colonel lineup.
Offesnviely saw Luke Hill continue his hot start to the season, picking up another two hits and two RBIs. It also saw two Rebels get their first hits of the season. Campbell Smithwick went 2-4 with two singles and 3 RBIs. Will Furniss went 2-4 with a home run. Issac Humphrey also drew three walks.
A worrying trend is Owen Paino's struggles. He doesn't look right at the plate right now, striking out three times yesterday in some pretty bad at-bats. I think getting him some work in the cages would be worthwhile, as would letting him sit for the rest of the weekend.
Mike is changing the lineup again today, bringing back Luke Cheng, Collin Reuter, and Hayden Federico.
Riley Maddox takes the ball, first pitch at 1:30 PM CT. Hotty Toddy!