Mike Bianco praises Ole Miss pitching staff for improved performance in final weeks of season

Ole Miss defeated LSU 2-0 in the semifinals of the SEC baseball tournament on Saturday behind an impressive collective effort from the Rebels pitching staff. This continues a trend for Mike Bianco’s team in Hoover of strong play on the mound, who have given up three runs since the tournament began.

“I really think the biggest thing the pitching staff has kind of been doing lately is really, really hanging out together and just coming together for the most part,” Bianco said. “We’re always hanging out with each other even outside of the field, and we’re not just teammates, we’re buddies.

“I think that really helps for encouraging guys who whenever they do go out there, and you also get a realization for what makes people tick, and you can say the right things to them to get them in their right head space to go and compete the way they’ve been doing all week.”

RHP Cade Townsend earned the start for Ole Miss against the Tigers. He finished 4.2 innings having given up two hits across 75 pitches. He walked three batters but struck out three more before leaving the game in the fifth inning.

Townsend was relieved by Gunnar Dennis, who kept LSU scoreless through 2.1 innings pitched. From there, Will McCausland and Connor Spencer finished the game off with 1.0 innings pitched each — all working to keep Townsend’s scoreless start intact. McCausland closed the game out for the Rebels, retiring the Tigers in order with two strikeouts.

“How well we’ve pitched it down the stretch, and not even down the stretch, like a week or two, but how strong we’ve been on the mound the second half of conference play on both sides from the starting pitchers to the bullpen and even with an injury to Braden Jones; we’ve been able to sustain that.

“They just continue to get better and better. I think (Spencer) is real sincere in that they’re close, they pull for one another, and that’s neat. In that staff where you’re going to hand the ball off to a lot of different people, and knowing that you have each other’s back sometimes makes the biggest difference in the world.”

Ole Miss’ strong pitching play has helped placed the Rebels in the 2025 SEC Tournament Championship game, who are looking to capture the program’s first tournament title since 2018. They’ll take on Vanderbilt Commodores in the matchup, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.