Baseball head coach Mike Bianco said on Monday that he would be changing up his pitching rotation this weekend before taking the field against Arkansas. He backed up that statement Thursday by announcing part of his rotation.
(Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
Brady Bramlett pitches during a game this season.
There is no change on the front end as Brady Bramlett will get the ball on Friday in his eighth start of the year. Bramlett has struggled lately and is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in his Ole Miss career. Bramlett went 5.1 innings last week, allowing two earned runs in a loss to Mississippi State. The junior right-hander did not receive much run support as Ole Miss tallied just one run in the 3-1 defeat.
There is, however, a change coming in what Mike Bianco called the “swing game” of the series. Sophomore right-hander David Parkinson will get his first collegiate start in game two on Saturday. Parkinson leads all Ole Miss pitchers with 13 appearances this season and has allowed just three runs in 19.1 innings, good for a 1.40 ERA.
(Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
Wyatt Short pitches in relief during a game against South Carolina earlier this season.
For the second time this season, Bianco has not announced a third starter before a weekend series. Bianco delaying the announcement of his third starter means there are a couple of different guys who could draw the start on Sunday. If junior closer Wyatt Short is not used in the first two games, he will most likely draw the start in game three. Short has been efficient for Ole Miss, posting a 1.80 ERA in 20.1 innings pitched. Short’s extended outing of 5.2 innings against South Carolina, in which he did not allow an earned run, really brought him into the conversation regarding being a starter and that talk could be brought into fruition this Sunday.
If Short is used earlier, or Bianco chooses to go another direction, the two most likely candidates are freshman Brady Feigl and sophomore Will Stokes. Stokes is second on the team with 12 appearances this year and has a 1.17 ERA. He was thrown into the role of Sunday starter a year ago, and it was an up-and-down experiment with inconsistent results. Stokes has pitched well out of the pen for the Rebels this year. Feigl is a freshman right-hander who has 11 appearances out of the bullpen in 21 innings pitched and has allowed seven earned runs. Last time this happened, Bianco did not make his starter known until the morning of the game.
Arkansas is coming off of a 12-4 midweek win over Memphis, but dropped two of three games to Missouri at home last weekend. The Razorbacks have a record of 20-9 (4-5) and were a top-25 team to begin the year, but have fallen from the rankings after a tough start in conference play. Arkansas is also going with a new-look rotation as James Teague will draw his first start of the year on Friday. Teague has a 3.12 ERA in seven appearances this year and nine innings pitched. One of the nation’s top relief pitchers and Razorback closer Zach Jackson will get the start on Saturday. He has allowed nine earned runs in 19 innings pitched this year and has 11 appearances. Like Ole Miss, Arkansas did not announce a Sunday starter.
The Razorbacks have struggled on the hill this year. Dominic Taccolini has been the primary man on the hill on Fridays for Arkansas this year. He is 3-1 with a 5.09 ERA, and Keaton McKinney, the second primary starter for the Razorbacks, has similar numbers with a line of 1-1 and a 6.07 ERA. Both appear to have been replaced for Teague and Jackson.
While Arkansas has struggled on the mound this year, twelfth in the SEC in team ERA with a mark of 4.19, it has made up for with defense and hitting. The team is second in the SEC in fielding percentage and has scored 210 runs this year, 27 more than Ole Miss, who has scored 183 and ranks twelfth in the SEC.
This is the beginning of a crucial stretch of games for Ole Miss. The schedule gets friendlier with three of the next four series at home and provides a chance for the struggling team to regroup and make up some ground in the SEC. It will be imperative that Ole Miss at least partially solidifies its rotation this weekend, as it has cost them some games. There is still plenty of time left, but Ole Miss needs to get things trending in the other direction if they want to compete for an SEC West division crown. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.
