Observations: Rebels roll Wildcats to set up winner-take-all game three

Saturday went pretty much perfectly for the Rebels.

Ole Miss jumped out to a quick lead, got another gutsy performance from Doug Nikhazy and saved its bullpen thanks to Austin Miller, as the Rebels pummeled Arizona, 12-3, to even the super regional series and set up a winner-take-all for Omaha at 8 p.m. CT on Sunday.

Ole Miss controlled the four-hour marathon throughout, using a Jacob Gonzalez solo home run on the fourth pitch of the game and a six-run second inning to provide plenty of margin.

The Rebels are 1-4 all-time in super regional game threes, with the one win in Lafayette, Louisiana in 2014.

Here are observations from the Ole Miss win.

Nikhazy has been a big-game hunter throughout his career, and he fought through a ridiculously high pitch count to put Ole Miss in a position to win.

Nikhazy threw 54 pitches in the first two innings and gave up two runs in 5.1 innings total, throwing 121 pitches, 81 strikes. He struck out 10 with three walks and limited Arizona to only a two-run fourth while he was on the mound.

“He’s Doug,” Mike Bianco said. “I’ve been here a long time, and I don’t know if we’ve ever had a guy like Doug.”

The junior left-hander was visibly frustrated with the strike zone and Arizona’s ability to foul off pitches and lengthen at-bats in the early innings, but then he settled in and picked up his 12th win of the season.

“If you’re putting up zeroes, it doesn’t matter how many pitches you’re throwing,” Nikhazy said.

Nikhazy competes his tail off, and recorded the first five outs of the game by strikeout. Ole Miss has lifted its play with him on the mound all year, and that happened again. The Rebels expect to win and play like it. It's the sign of a great player, a great leader and someone who has put up a hell of a legacy, whether it ends tomorrow or ends in Omaha.

“Tip your hat to him, and you can see why he’s an All-American,” Arizona head coach Jay Johnson said.

Nikhazy said, on Friday as soon as Ole Miss lost game one, he started thinking about what he would say to his teammates prior to game three.

“We’re going to play better than them tomorrow,” Nikhazy said.

Austin Miller hadn’t thrown more than one inning since May 7 and had only recorded one out since May 22 but is the reason Ole Miss has most of its pitching options available on Sunday. The senior got a strike-out, throw-out double play to get out of he sixth to relieve Nikhazy and finished up the final three innings..

He scattered four hits and allowed just one solo home run. Miller struck out six and baffled Arizona with his curve ball. The offspeed controlled things for Nikhazy and Miller, and Miller used it in plus counts to cross up the Wildcats.

Derek Diamond, Tyler Myers, Nikhazy and Miller are the only pitchers unavailable on Sunday — assuming Miller is unavailable. Ole Miss closer Taylor Broadway hasn’t thrown a pitch since Monday. Both Ole Miss and Arizona declined to name a starter for game three.

Gonzalez hit a double on Friday and two doubles and the home run on Saturday in the leadoff spot. He has 92 hits which puts him in the top 10 in school history for a season.

The freshman scored three runs and had three RBIs on Saturday.

“We recruited him, and I wish he was at Arizona,” Johnson said. “I’ll tell you that much.”

Ole Miss was 7-for-11 with runners in scoring position and battered Arizona starter Garrett Irvin for seven hits and seven runs in 1.1 innings. The Rebels hammered the fastball and forced Irvin into the zone when behind in the count. In his previous start, Irvin threw a complete game shutout against UC Santa Barbara.

“He missed up and over the plate against a really good offensive team,” Johnson said.

The top four in the Ole Miss order combined for 10 hits and scored seven runs, including Peyton Chatagnier’s two-run home run that punctuated the six-run second inning.

Bianco moved Hayden Dunhurst to the eight spot in the order, and he went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. It’s Dunhurst’s first three-hit game since May 16. Dunhurst and nine-hole hitter John Rhys Plumlee had five combined hits and reached base six times to turn the lineup over.

Arizona was 4-for-20 with runners on and 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.