Mike Bianco provides initial thoughts on CWS Final, update on pitching plan

The Ole Miss Rebels are still riding the wave of a historic season in their baseball program’s history. They punched their tickets to this weekend’s College World Series Final in Omaha, Nebraska. It will be the first time in Ole Miss baseball history that they’ve played for the national championship. On Friday, Rebels head coach Mike Bianco spoke with the media about his initial thoughts leading up to Saturday’s Game 1 CWS Final matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners.

“Well, obviously a good morning for us to still be here in Omaha and to wake up with a great opportunity in front of us. I know the guys are excited. Probably the No. 1 question most asked is who we’ll start on Saturday, and I’m sorry to inform you, and Hunter [Elliott] is sitting here, we’re not sure who we’ll go with,” Bianco said.

The Rebels’ head man then continued discussing the uncertainty surrounding who he’ll be starting on the mound on Saturday.

“Obviously a little short rest, I don’t think it’s not manageable, but we weren’t sure how we were going to use the pitchers. We’re just trying to get through last night’s game. So to have this conference — a little premature, I think, on our standpoint, to make that decision. We’ll try, from your standpoint, from the media’s standpoint, try to release that as soon as we know something,” Bianco said.

“But I don’t think it’s fair to Hunter or any of the other pitchers that we could possibly pitch tomorrow. Certainly Hunter is going to either pitch Saturday or Sunday. We’ll just get to practice today, let him stretch, let him throw a little bit, and we certainly want to make sure that he’s ready and capable, and on normal rest. That’s not going to be the case this weekend, so we need to know when is his best shot to give us the best opportunity to win a baseball game, so we’ll wait,” the Ole Miss head man said.

The Rebels punched their tickets to the CWS Final after junior Dylan DeLucia pitched a masterpiece of a complete game, shutting out the Arkansas Razorbacks on Thursday for a 2-0 victory. DeLucia spent his first two seasons at Northwest Florida State College. He delivered the goods when his team needed them the most, pitching the first shutout by a SEC pitcher in the College World Series since LSU’s Brett Laxton did it in 1993.

Game 1 of the CWS Final between Ole Miss and Oklahoma is set to begin at 7:00 PM EST on Saturday, June 25th. Game 2 between the two teams is set for Sunday, June 26th at 3:00 PM EST. If necessary, Game 3 will be played on Monday, June 27 at 7:00 PM EST. All three games will be nationally televised on ESPN.