WATCH: Ole Miss pitcher Dylan DeLucia reveals when he knew Rebels were capable of winning CWS
Ole Miss pitcher Dylan DeLucia knew after the Southern Miss Super Regional that the Rebels were capable of big things. DeLucia and Hunter Elliott had just pitched back-to-back shutouts against the Golden Eagles to punch their ticket to the College World Series, and he felt there was nothing that could stop them.
The Rebels arrived in Omaha with that same level of confidence, where they would go on to claim the first national championship in program history. Following the title-clinching win against Oklahoma on Sunday, DeLucia revealed what he saw out of the bullpen after that Super Regional.
“The week before, the bullpen was outstanding,” DeLucia said postgame. “I think we gave up six runs or seven runs all tournament. Just going into that, we saw our pitching start to change. Our bullpen was just pounding the zone and getting outs. Everything was just changing in our favor. We were just being us again. Then our hitting came along and everything just started clicking for us. …We just started playing our best ball at the right time.”
Elliott got the start again Sunday and pitched 6.2 innings giving before giving up a pair of runs in the seventh. John Gaddis later entered the game to pick up the win after Ole Miss scored three runs in the eighth to pull away for good.
Although Dylan DeLucia did not pitch during the series final, he was the starter in the deciding game to send Ole Miss to the final. He pitched a full game as the Rebels shut out Arkansas behind his seven strikeouts.
DeLucia knows the credit can’t go to just one player, though. Ole Miss was the last team in the tournament and still made it to Omaha in spite of the odds against them. Every member of the bullpen and roster played their part in the run, which will now live on forever in history.
“I’m truly blessed at the end of the day just to be a part of this team and coaching staff,” DeLucia said. “Everybody here. Miss Shelia helping me out getting my grades. Everything. Everybody that’s involved in this program I just want to say thank you. We couldn’t have done it without you. This team, we just didn’t quit. We never stopped believing in each other. We took our chance when we got in the tournament and we knew it was a 50/50 shot of us getting in. But we took our chance and just wanted to play one game at a time. Not take it for granted and play loose. Play like we had nothing to lose. Let’s see how far we can make it and we just ended up getting hot at the right time.”
DeLucia isn’t quite sure when the reality of Sunday’s win will sink in. But one thing he does know is that he can’t wait for the plane ride back home to Oxford.
“Probably when they let me take (the trophy) home with me,” DeLucia said. “They’re not letting me take it home today. But I guarantee as soon as I’m on that plane tomorrow, we’re all just gonna look at each other and everybody’s just gonna go crazy. …I don’t know when it’s gonna kick in, but hopefully pretty soon because I’m excited right now.”