Ole Miss would not be in the Super Regional round without the performance it received from its pitching staff in the Lincoln Regional.
Taylor Rabe had his best outing as a Rebel and a phenomenal start in the Saturday win over Nebraska. Hunter Elliott and Cade Townsend battled to corral an explosive Arizona State offense keeping Ole Miss in the game and not letting the game get away from them.
And the bullpen allowed only four earned runs in 17 innings of work over the weekend with Walker Hooks, Hudson
Calhoun, JP Robertson and Wil Libbert coming through in clutch innings time and again.
There will be a need for a dynamic pitching performance again when the Rebels face the Auburn Tigers this weekend at Plainsman Park. The attendance should be very strong, the atmosphere will be electric, and of course there is the mini green monster in left field that is unique to this park not to mention a loaded team that finished with a No. 4 national seed.
So will Mike Bianco switch things up for the Super Regional round? In the regional, he started things off with his veteran Elliott on Friday, which is the normal place fans saw all season. It would be shocking to see anyone OTHER than Elliott take the mound Friday.
Then comes the Saturday game which will be an elimination game for someone. This is where I think his decision making will be massive, and Bianco may not tip his hand until the Friday game is finalized. Rabe is the hot hand right now, and he pitched last Saturday so it stands to reason you want to stick with that plan.
However, if the Rebels win on Friday, I think you need to go Townsend and save Rabe for Sunday in a winner take all situation. Both starters are righthanded, so their matchups will be exactly the same through the lineup. The only question would be if Townsend is ready to go Saturday or not.
No matter who starts Ole Miss needs its bullpen more than ever to get to Omaha. The master class it presented in the regional round against Nebraska and Arizona State was the difference maker, and if it can be repeated, the Rebels will be starting its postseason in the state of Nebraska and ending it there as well in Omaha.
