Ole Miss to start Doug Nikhazy Tuesday in Hoover
Ole Miss will throw its ace on Tuesday in the SEC Tournament.
The fifth-seed Rebels (38-17, 18-12) play No. 12 seed Auburn (25-26, 10-20) in the late game on the opening day in Hoover, and Doug Nikhazy gets the ball for Ole Miss.
The junior left-hander, who picked up First Team All-SEC honors earlier on Monday, threw 115 pitches on Thursday during seven shutout innings against Georgia.
If Ole Miss wins against RPI 96 Auburn, it advances to the double elimination portion of the tournament against No. 4 seed Vanderbilt in the late gam on Wednesday.
“Knowing he’s available, to me it doesn’t make a ton of sense not to throw him because if you lose you go home,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “Might as well throw your ace. We’ve almost always done that here, especially on day one, if the guy is able to throw.
“Some guys don’t bounce back or are able to throw. It’s different on Wednesday. When you have two games, you have to lose twice, but on Tuesday and you win and stay or lose and go home, you want to shoot your best bullet if you can.”
Nikhazy has a 1.67 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in nine league starts this season. He’s 7-1 in the SEC and the first Rebel to win seven SEC games in the regular season since Chris Ellis in 2014.
It’ll be the first time Auburn has seen Nikhazy. He missed the regular season series between the two teams with chest discomfort.
Bianco said the decision came down to how Nikhazy has felt the past few days.
"One, you have to make sure of who’s capable of pitching, physically,” Bianco said. “That’s the reason we waited so long, that Doug feels good and that he can do it. He bounced back from Thursday night’s start and we talked on Friday at the game to make sure that was the mindset if he could do it and he felt capable of doing it, and each day he’s felt really good.”
Bianco said there’s no decision yet as who would start Ole Miss’ second game in Hoover, should the Rebels beat the Tigers. Ole Miss swept Auburn in the opening week of league play.