The Ole Miss baseball team improved to 9-0 after edging UCF in what was their first true test of the season. Here are a few things I took away from the Rebels’ game one win.
Get used to this type of game
It’s no secret that Ole Miss’s offense is one of the best in the country and is what makes this team thrive. In a game where their opponent was red hot and their starting pitcher struggled, Ole Miss proved they are good enough to beat teams by simply outhitting them. Ole Miss trailed for most of the game and continued to hit until they found their way back into the game and eventually pulled out the win. This was a really important showing from the offense. The Rebels’ pitching staff has improved, but will still struggle at times throughout the year. The offense is going to have to win some games by itself, and it proved it could against a solid UCF team on the road. In a down year for pitching talent in the SEC, expect Ole Miss to get into its share of slugfests throughout the season.
Major concerns about Derek Diamond
Ole Miss’s Friday night starter had plenty of questions and concerns about him coming into the season after his disappointing 2021 campaign. Diamond was the 37th overall ranked player coming out of high school in 2019 and was drafted in the 40th round by the Diamondbacks the same year. But since coming to Ole Miss, Diamond has faced his share of adversity. The 2020 season was canceled after Diamond earned the Sunday starter as a freshman and was pitching well in the role. He took on the same role in 2021, but after looking impressive in the first series of the year, he began to struggle. His velocity plummeted, and he could never regain the confidence needed to get him going. Despite his struggles, the majority of fans were still hopeful that Diamond would find himself in 2022 and become the best pitcher that he can be. But after his first three starts of the season, I think it’s fair to start questioning whether he will ever get it together or not. His velocity is still down in the low 90’s when he should be reaching the mid-90’s consistently. In his first start in 2021, he threw a pitch that clocked in at 97 mph. Fast-forward a year later and he is struggling to touch 93 mph. Diamond looked similar to when he was at his worst in 2021 in the first two innings against UCF. He settled down after giving up two early runs and pitched two scoreless innings, so things started to look okay for Diamond. But in the fifth inning he gave up a three-run blast and a double that would later produce a run. His final line was 4.2 innings pitched, six hits, seven strikeouts and six earned runs. If not for the potent Rebel offense, he would have been docked with his first loss of the season. Diamond once again did not look like the best version of himself, and that is concerning for the future of this team. Ole Miss needs Derek Diamond to give them a chance to win on Friday nights, and whether he can do that or not is in serious question right now.
Dunhurst is back
After missing the last six games due to a hamstring injury, catcher Hayden Dunhurst made his way back into the lineup on Friday. He looked like his usual self behind the plate, which is huge for Ole Miss. Dunhurst is one of the best catchers in the country and many were beginning to worry if his injury was more serious than projected after missing so many games, but everyone can breathe easy now that he’s back. Calvin Harris did a tremendous job filling in for Dunhurst while he was out, and it was a little surprising that he was left out of the lineup after improving his batting average to a whopping .611. Regardless, Ole Miss needs its elite catcher in there, even if it does sacrifice a little bit of offense.
