The moment was not too big for Ole Miss' Mason Nichols in College World Series Final
OMAHA, Neb. — Ole Miss had things in control on Saturday until they did not anymore. When Oklahoma finally got to Jack Dougherty in the sixth inning head coach Mike Bianco had to make a decision.
Bianco went to the bullpen and instead of going for the tested Josh Mallitz he went to Mason Nichols, a freshman who has never pitched on a stage such as the College World Series Final.
Turns out the stage was not too big nor the lights too bright for Nichols at Charles Schwab Field. Nichols took the field with the bases loaded full of Oklahoma players and zero outs on the board.
The freshman got back-to-back strikeouts, starting with Oklahoma’s deadly hitter Peyton Graham. He nearly got out of the jam unscathed but did offer up a bases-loaded walk to bring home the Sooners second run of the night.
Nichols then got a comebacker for the final out of the frame.
“My mentality was I know that Graham is a great hitter, but whenever I came in I just wanted to throw my best pitched,” Nichols said. “(Bianco) was calling it. He told me when I came out there, ‘Just fill up the zone.’ Slider away first pitch, so that was the game plan. I was just trying to get my slider down, throw the fastball, locate it well and I did.”
There were heroes a plenty for Ole Miss in Saturday’s win, both on the mound at the plate, but Nichols may prove to be the biggest of them all when it is all said and done in Omaha.
Oklahoma was rallying after the Rebels jumped on them for a quick 4-0 lead after the first four innings. The game felt like it was Ole Miss’ to lose, even in the early innings, but the Sooners climbed back in it.
With the potent offense Oklahoma has, and has shown here in Omaha over the past week, the sixth inning was moment where it could have all come undone for the Rebels.
Nichols made sure that did not happen, keeping the dam from breaking even though some leaks occurred.
“He really has done it” Bianco said of Nichols’ performance. “It’s easy to say he has done it in the second half of the season, but especially in postseason. We haven’t been in a lot of tight games, and that might have been, obviously, where he is at on this stage.
“But bases loaded, no outs and facing one of the best hitters in the country. He gets a couple punch-outs. Then he lets one get across, but that’s really my fault. We just didn’t want Tredaway to hit a double or a gapper and score everybody.”
Throughout the postseason there have been pitching scenarios that have had to work out perfectly, or moves that had no room for error. All of those situations and decisions went as well as could be asked for, including what Nichols provided on Saturday.
