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OMAHA | Mike Bianco had an immediate answer in his head, and then he thought about it for a second longer.
The Ole Miss head coach was leaving the press conference area less than 45 minutes after his Rebels cruised past Auburn 5-1 to set up a winner’s bracket matchup with Arkansas Monday at 6 p.m. in the College World Series.
Just before SEC commissioner Greg Sankey congratulated him in the hallway and he headed for the bus, I asked Bianco if Josh Mallitz’s slider was comparable to Scott Bittle, the famed Ole Miss closer who led the country in strikeouts per nine innings in 2008. Throwing “The Thing,” Bittle was an automatic outs-eater his final two seasons.
Bianco shook his head sideways, indicating no before pausing and looking over with a smile.
“Well, maybe,” Bianco said. “These last few weeks no one has hit it.”
Mallitz struck out the side in the ninth inning on Saturday, throwing 11 pitches in a perfect frame to finish off the overmatched Tigers. The right-hander wasn’t often used in high-leverage situations the first half of the season, but since May 11 he’s been a force in the Ole Miss bullpen.
Mallitz has lowered his season ERA to 1.24 thanks to his current 15.2-inning streak of no earned runs, 24 strikeouts and two walks. He’s allowed only five hits during that stretch and is a significant reason why the Rebel didn’t allow an earned run for 26 straight innings before Auburn scored in the seventh inning.
The sophomore hasn’t allowed an earned run in 8.2 innings during the NCAA Tournament, and he was on the mound when the Rebels dogpiled in Hattiesburg after outscoring the Golden Eagles 15-0 in two games. He threw 12 straight sliders against Southern Miss in the eighth inning to strand the final threat of the weekend.
“I’ve been throwing it like 70-plus percent every time, going out there, getting a lot of swing and miss,” Mallitz said. “So, I think that’s the key factor, and it’s making my fastball a lot more effective. It’s harder to hit. I think that my slider, all around, has improved my game.”
Mallitz had a 7.33 ERA as a freshman in 2021, getting some midweek starts but struggling to miss bats. He allowed 41 hits and had a WHIP of nearly two in 27 innings.
Knowing he needed to change things up, Mallitz spent the offseason working on the slider, to sharpen it, control it and trust it. Along with his improved mental ability to focus when the stakes are high, he’s become arguably Ole Miss’ best bullpen arm.
“It was me not having success and knew I needed something different,” Mallitz said.
The confidence is obvious when he explains the slider. The final piece to his surge into a dominant reliever is a bit of deception. He’s excelled at throwing the slider from the same arm slot and action as his fastball, confusing hitters with movement and break.
“To the righty I’m trying to be more swing and miss and throw it off the plate," Mallitz said. "It tunnels like my fastball so if I can get it to look like my fastball, I can throw it more on the outer half and it runs away where my fastball runs in. And to lefties, I throw it more toward the back knee, if not try to bury it. It looks like my fastball and is more of a fastball pitch.”
Mallitz’s emergence has added trust in him to throw multiple innings and finish games. Closer Brandon Johnson hasn’t pitched in Ole Miss’ last three games.
Johnson and Mallitz should both be available when Ole Miss faces the Razorbacks on Monday. Arkansas didn’t see Mallitz in the regular season, and Johnson pitched twice in Fayetteville, shutting out the Razorbacks over three combined innings.
“Mallitz, of course, at the end has been as good as anyone we run out there,” Bianco said.
