Jack Washburn pitches a gem, and Ole Miss offense comes alive in finale at Kentucky
Apr. 3—Behind a stellar start from junior Jack Washburn, No. 10 Ole Miss stifled Kentucky's bats in a dominant 10-1 victory Sunday afternoon in the rubber match of the teams' three-game series.
Washburn went five innings, the lone blemish in his outing coming on a solo home run in the fifth. The Oregon State transfer — largely used as a midweek starter previously and making his first appearance in an SEC game — allowed four hits and struck out six batters.
"Mindset didn't change at all. I just wanted to get up there and get a good, solid start for my team and give us a shot to win," Washburn said. "(My) stuff was good today. I commanded the fastball really well and used that tool to get in on some guys, and I think that was the difference maker for me today."
Senior first baseman Tim Elko, sophomore shortstop Jacob Gonzalez and redshirt sophomore outfielder T.J. McCants each hit home runs. Gonzalez and McCants drove in three runs apiece.
After failing to register a start of five innings in five-straight contests, Ole Miss starters made it through at least five innings in two of the three games against the Wildcats. Washburn's five innings pitched tied his season-high.
The Rebels switched up their weekend rotation against the Wildcats, putting junior Derek Diamond, senior John Gaddis and sophomore Jack Dougherty in the bullpen. Junior Dylan DeLucia, freshman Hunter Elliott and Washburn started the there games and were largely on-point: the trio gave up a total of one earned run.
Dougherty went three innings in relief of Washburn Sunday, and Gaddis pitched the ninth.
"It's certainly important. (It's) why we kind of made the change (in the rotation). But again, that really wasn't by design," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. "One of the reasons —not the reason — but one of the reasons that we did it is because it always seems to be the first question, right? The starting pitching question every weekend. And obviously, the pitching's the most important thing. But I thought those guys pitched really well. Jack was terrific today, I thought Hunter (Elliott) did a good job yesterday, obviously Dylan (DeLucia) did a good job on Friday.
"Today, I thought the guys in the bullpen pitched well. Obviously, the guys Friday pitched well. So, I just thought it was a really good weekend on the mound, except for about three innings yesterday. I thought we pitched it really well for about 24 innings this weekend."
For the third day in a row, Ole Miss (19-8, 4-5 SEC) struck first, scoring two runs in the fourth inning. The Rebels had a chance to break it open with the bases loaded but were unable to.
In the bottom of the inning, Washburn found himself in a jam after a throwing error from Gonzalez put runners on second and third. Kentucky's (18-11, 4-5) John Thrasher popped out junior second baseman Peyton Chatagnier to end the inning.
The Rebels broke the game open in the top of the fifth with six runs. The first run came from Elko's long ball, the next on a fielder's choice groundout from sophomore designated hitter Kemp Alderman, the third on a double from senior outfielder Hayden Leatherwood and the last three off Gonzalez's deep shot to right field with two outs.
McCants hit a solo home run in the seventh and drove in a run on a fielder's choice in the eighth.
After walking a total of six times in the first two games of the series, Ole Miss batters walked nine times Sunday afternoon.
"I think it's really important for us. We came into the season as a really respected offense and have kind of been slacking off on that a little bit," McCants said. "But I think (with) us seeing the ball again, it'll all come back around."
Ole Miss plays Southern Miss Tuesday night in Pearl. First pitch is 6 p.m.
MICHAEL KATZ is the Ole Miss athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at michael.katz@djournal.com.
