Last weekend in Knoxville the Ole Miss baseball team took a game from No. 8 Tennessee to avoid the sweep but it was the two losses that became the bigger story and a hard look at the starting pitching was needed.
Gunnar Dennis and Grayson Saunier served as the bookends to a strong outing by Liam Doyle in Saturday’s 8-5 comeback victory. Dennis’ pitch to contact approach was roughed up by the Volunteer bats and Saunier had a Sunday 2.2-inning outing to be best forgotten in the 15-4 run-rule loss — the second seven-inning game of the series.
Coming out of the first Southeastern Conference series loss of the season was the major question surrounding the weekend rotation. The answer came within 24 hours as head coach Mike Bianco revealed on Monday there were changes coming as soon as this weekend.
Dennis is staying in the rotation but moving to Sunday with Riley Maddox getting the Friday start to kickoff the series with No. 24 Kentucky (21-4, 5-1 SEC). Maddox gets the nod after three strong midweek outings.
“When you get beat up like that, and not always when you lose but people want to talk about the rotation, people want to talk about sometimes a change in the lineup,” Bianco said on Tuesday. “I thought we needed a little bit of a jolt. Maddox has pitched so well for us, really for the last three week’s he’s been dominant. I think he controls the running game as well as anybody we got.”
While No. 22 Ole Miss (18-8, 3-3 SEC) is on different Friday starter the move allows for much-needed stability.
Maddox can potentially secure a Friday night win with Doyle and Dennis still waiting in the wings to either secure the series win or the elusive sweep in SEC play.
The 10 strikeouts by Doyle last Saturday provided reasonable argument to move him to the Friday slot but the counter argument of keeping him the back pocket to either level the series or get the win had a higher upside.
“It keeps Doyle on regular rest and we’ve asked a lot from Doyle and he’s been terrific,” Bianco said. “He’s really answered the bell and obviously he’s been as dominant as you would ever hope, but to pitch him on short rest and then next week to pitch him again on short rest. Just a couple weeks ago he was throwing one inning out of the bullpen.”
Dennis is the one who remains in the rotation getting slotted down to Sunday and Saunier is the one that will sit this weekend. The move is maybe a knee-jerk one but also one out of necessity.
The Rebels are still on schedule after six games through the SEC and the series win over South Carolina is looking better and better. To preserve that and a current top 20 RPI standing Bianco needs to get the pitching nailed down.
A ranked opponent is a tough ask for Maddox to slot in but it is better to do it at home in the friendly confines of Oxford-University Stadium instead of next Thursday at No. 1 Arkansas in hostile territory.
The post The Ole Miss starting rotation ‘needed a jolt’ so Mike Bianco shook things up appeared first on On3 .
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