By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
Ole Miss baseball returns to the diamond Friday, opening the 2023 campaign against the Delaware Blue Hens in a three-game series.
Head coach Mike Bianco met with the media on Wednesday and released the rotation after coming off the 2022 national championship season.
Bianco and his staff will send to the mound sophomore left-hander Hunter Elliott on Friday, freshman right-hander Grayson Saunier on Saturday and on Sunday the lefty Xavier Rivas, a transfer from Indianapolis.
“We’ll start the first weekend with Jack Dougherty in the bullpen. I think all four guys have clearly separated themselves from everyone else. They’re not only arguably our guys to this point, but pitched the best to this point,” Bianco said. “Dougherty is probably the guy that’s kind of a wildcard, having the most significant time in the bullpen. I thinking starting out the first weekend gives us a little better feeling rather than bringing in someone who hasn’t done it before here. You don’t get a trophy for being a weekend starter, especially opening weekend. The rotation tends to shift and change.”
Elliott returns as a starter from the run to a national championship against Oklahoma. Last season, in 80 innings on the bump, the southpaw struck out 102 batters to 34 walks and 29 runs with a 2.70 ERA.
Dougherty drew four-starts with 17 appearances in 2022 with 61 strikeouts and 16 walks with a 4.91 ERA.
The Rebels will start defending their national championship on Friday at 4 p.m. and can be streamed on the SEC Network+.
