Gunnar Hoglund scratched from Thursday's start against LSU

OXFORD | Gunnar Hoglund was scratched before his Friday start against LSU because of bicep stiffness, Ole Miss announced during pregame.

Hoglund, who is a projected first round pick in this summer’s MLB First Year Player Draft, threw seven innings last Friday in a loss to Mississippi State. He allowed three runs with nine strikeouts and no walks over 109 pitches.

"Gunnar was a little stiffer than normal coming off of his last start,” Ole Miss said in a statement around 5:30 p.m. Friday. “Rather than pitch him on short rest tonight, we decided to hold him out.”

Mike Bianco said following the game, a 5-4 LSU victory, that Hoglund may pitch later in the weekend. Hoglund threw his bullpen on Monday and felt normal but experienced stiffness in the muscle on Wednesday and Thursday.

"There’s a chance he could throw tomorrow or Saturday, but we don’t know that yet," Bianco said. "There’s no longterm concern."

Hoglund has a 2.57 ERA and .185 ERA in 49 innings this season. He’s struck out 78 and walked 16 during his eight starts.

Baseball America listed Hoglund the No. 5 prospect in its recent rankings, and MLB mocked him to the Mets with the 10th overall pick this week.

The Rebels and Tigers continue the series at 6:30 p.m. Friday.