OXFORD | Arkansas switched Zach Root to the Friday starting pitcher role this week, counting on the transfer to start the Razorbacks off right in the SEC.
Root and Gabe Gaeckle switched starting days, and Ole Miss will see Gaeckle next up, but the plan for Root to stifle the Rebels went the opposite direction.
No. 13 Ole Miss got to the East Carolina transfer lefty for 10 hits and seven runs in just three innings during the eventual 10-6 Rebel win to open SEC play. Ole Miss goes for the series win over No. 3 Arkansas at 1:30 on Saturday, but that time is expected to change because of inclement weather in the area.
“We really had good approaches and took advantage of some good fortune,” Mike Bianco said. “You want to capitalize and hit mistakes, and we didn’t help him a lot. It was a really good day of hitting on a tough day to pitch.”
The Rebels are 15-2, while the Razorbacks fell to 16-2 on the season.
Hayden Federico hit the first pitch Root threw for a solo home run, and Ole Miss scored two runs in the first, two in the second and another in the third. Ryan Moerman doubled, and Mitchell Sanford hit a two-run home run in the fourth to chase Root after 74 pitches, 46 strikes.
Root had allowed five earned runs in 21.1 innings entering the day. He gave up six extra base hits to the Rebels, as the wind whipped out to left field for most of the game.
Ole Miss got to the Arkansas bullpen for three more runs over the next two innings. Sanford and Isaac Humphrey paced the Rebels with three hits, and Sanford had four RBIs. Ole Miss hit six doubles, including one by Luke Cheng, who had multiple hits before leaving the game in the fourth inning.
Cheng reached base three times, including a hit by pitch that glanced off the batting helmet and hit him in the face. He lay on the ground for a short time before getting to his feet and walking to the dugout. Owen Paino replaced him at shortstop.
Ole Miss planned to conduct concussion tests on Cheng after the game.
Arkansas only committed one error, but the swirling wind led to multiple Razorback miscues. Ole Miss, just once, dropped a (foul) ball because of the conditions.
Humphrey and Sanford both reached base four times.
Hunter Elliott bounced back from a difficult start a week ago with a five-inning effort to pick up the win. The Ole Miss ace yielded two runs and five hits to with eight strikeouts and one walk.
The left-hander threw a season-high 93 pitches, 61 strikes and closed his outing with six straight outs after his pitch count elevated in the early frames. Arkansas got the first two on in the second and the leadoff batter on in the third and fourth, but Elliott had six of his strikeouts with runners on base.
“I located my fastball to the top of the zone, and I’m tough when I do that,” Elliott said. “I thought I had everything working today, and with the wind blowing out like that, you have to stay with the plan and execute.”
Elliott pitched with an illness a week ago but hit 93 MPH with his fastball and located well to all quadrants against the Razorbacks. It’s his first SEC start since LSU in 2023 and first healthy SEC start since facing Arkansas in the 2022 College World Series.
“Hunter was great even though I’ve seen him with better stuff,” Sanford said. “He gives us a chance to win every time.”
Mason Morris limited a rough first inning of relief to two runs and got 10 outs while allowing three runs. After a ninth-inning home run, Ole Miss brought in closer Connor Spencer for the final two outs with a four-run lead.
Morris struck out six and gave up five hits with 66 pitches. He’d given up one run in 13.1 innings this season.
“(Pitching coach) Joel (Mangrum) wanted to go out there (and leave Morris in), but part of my job is to stick us to the plan,” Bianco said. “We got through it. It’s a juggling act, and we went back and forth.”
Ole Miss was 9-for-20 with runners on base and 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Arkansas was only 3-for-16 with runners on. The Rebels got the leadoff batter on six of eight times.
