Ole Miss Rebels pitcher Cade Townsend delivering a pitch against Nevada
Ole Miss Rebels pitcher Cade Townsend delivering a pitch against Nevada. | Dylan Cohron-HottyToddy.com Images

Texas A&M Makes Friday Night Rotation Change Ahead of Ole Miss Series

BY Taylor Hodges

No. 20 Ole Miss faces an important weekend series starting Friday night.

The Rebels’ final week of the regular season will be a lot less stressful if they can win a pair of games against No. 9 Texas A&M. At a minimum, they have to avoid a sweep.

Ole Miss needs four more SEC wins to feel confident about hosting a NCAA Regional when the NCAA Tournament starts in three weeks. But that’s a lot easier said than done and the work will begin soon enough.

How successful this home series finale for Ole Miss is will depend on the bats launching bombs and the pitching staff throwing its best stuff.

The second half of that recipe begins with the starting pitchers for the weekend. And like we predicted earlier in the week, there’s no surprise who Ole Miss is starting.

Hunter Elliott gets the ball first on Friday, followed by Cade Townsend and Taylor Rabe. That’s the rotation the Rebels have used for almost a month now.

Texas A&M, though, did have a surprise in its starting rotation.

The Aggies are giving Ethan Darden his first start of the season in Friday’s series opener and everybody’s favorite pitcher, TBA, is slated for Sunday. The only part of the rotation unchanged is Aiden Sims starts Saturday’s game.

Darden, a Clemson transfer, started nine games for the Tigers last season and went 4-2 with a 6.08 ERA. Moving to the bullpen this year has suited him. He’s 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA across 25 innings and has been one of the steadier arms on the staff.

Shae Sdao had been the Friday starter all season, but the numbers haven’t backed up the role. Among SEC pitchers with at least one inning per team game, he ranks last in ERA during league play at 9.74, last in WHIP at 2.16 and last in hits allowed with 57. He’s 0-4 in SEC games, and the struggles finally forced a change.

This could be a good or bad thing for Ole Miss.

If the Rebels’ bats aren’t active, it won’t matter who’s throwing the pitches. But if they are and Darden is more like an opener, Ole Miss could force the Aggies to deplete some of their bullpen.

We’ll find out in a few hours if that’s going to happen or not.

Ole Miss Starting Pitchers

Hunter Elliott, LHP

  • Season stats: 4-2, 5.49 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 59 IP, 57 H, 37 R, 36 ER, 31 BB, 77 SO, .256 Opp. BA

Cade Townsend, RHP

  • Season stats: 5-1, 2.42 ERA, .96 WHIP, 52 IP, 37 H, 17 R, 14 ER, 13 BB, 73 SO, .193 Opp. BA

Taylor Rabe, RHP

  • Season stats: 3-3, 4.17 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 45.1 IP, 44 H, 21 R, 21 ER, 7 BB, 54 SO, .251 Opp. BA

Notable Relief Pitchers

  • Walker Hooks, LHP: 3-1, 2.45 ERA, .82 WHIP, 5 SV, 40.1 IP, 24 H, 14 R, 11 ER, 9 BB, 46 SO, .176 Opp. BA
  • Landon Waters, RHP: 0-1, 0.90 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 2 SV, 20 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 10 BB, 21 SO, .159 Opp. BA
  • Hudson Calhoun, RHP: 3-3, 4.33 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 2 SV, 35.1 IP, 29 H, 19 R, 17 ER, 20 BB, 55 SO, .221 Opp. BA
  • Landon Koenig, RHP: 3-0, 5.12 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, 2 SV, 19.1 IP, 29 H, 15 R, 11 ER, 5 BB, 29 SO, .341 Opp. BA

Texas A&M Starting Pitchers

Ethan Darden, LHP

  • Season stats: 4-0, 2.88 ERA, 25 IP, 21 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 10 BB, 19 SO, .231 Opp. BA

Aiden Sims, RHP

  • Season stats: 8-1, 3.60 ERA, 65 IP, 50 H, 30 R, 26 ER, 18 BB, 68 SO, .208 Opp. BA

TBA

Notable Relief Pitchers

  • Clayton Freshcorn, RHP: 2-1, 2.34 ERA, 11 SV, 34.2 IP, 35 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 4 BB, 39 SO, .261 Opp. BA
  • Juan Vargas, RHP: 2-1, 3.91 ERA, 23 IP, 16 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 8 BB, 16 SO, .193 Opp. BA
  • Grant Cunningham, RHP: 3-1, 6.00 ERA, 1 SV, 30 IP, 42 H, 21 R, 20 ER, 9 BB, 26 SO, .333 Opp. BA
  • Shane Sdao, LHP: 3-4, 6.55 ERA, 57.2 IP, 75 H, 44 R, 42 ER, 15 BB, 67 SO, .307 Opp. BA
  • Weston Moss, RHP: 4-2, 5.12 ERA, 51 IP, 50 H, 30 R, 29 ER, 17 BB, 48 SO, .258 Opp. BA

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