Nikhazy dominates, offense rolls, Rebels even series
Apr. 17—STARKVILLE — While the debate continues on whether good pitching or good hitting matters more, No. 6 Ole Miss re-proved a different long-held baseball truth on Saturday.
It's better to have both.
Junior left-hander Doug Nikhazy threw a complete-game, one-hitter and the Ole Miss offense backed him with 17 hits in the Rebels' 9-0 win over No. 4 Mississippi State before 13,338 at Dudy Noble Field.
The 11th-largest crowd in MSU history watched an Ole Miss pitcher record a complete game for the first time since Christian Trent against Missouri in 2015.
It was the Rebels' first one-hitter since 2001 against Southeastern Louisiana in a seven-inning game.
Nikhazy and teammates Drew McDaniel and Jackson Kimbrell combined on a no-hitter against Xavier last year.
The win ties the weekend series at one with the decisive Game 3 set for today at 1 p.m.
Nikhazy was pitching for the fourth time since missing two starts with a pulled chest muscle.
"I was ready to go, but with a couple more starts under my belt I'm starting to get more comfortable," he said. "Getting through those first innings quicker allows me to keep my pitch count down and get deeper into games."
Nikhazy had not gone more than 6 1/3 innings since Week 2 against Central Florida.
Saturday he mixed 122 pitches with confidence and kept the Bulldogs off balance with command and location of mostly fastballs and curves.
He carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning when MSU's Brayland Skinner singled up the middle. The fifth ended with Skinner out on a force play at second, a base the Bulldogs (26-8, 9-5) never reached.
Nikhazy struck out a career-high tying 12 including Tanner Allen on three pitches, swinging, to end the game.
Nikhazy took a few steps toward the Ole Miss dugout where his teammates greeted him like he'd just thrown a no-hitter. He almost had.
Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco didn't hesitate to send Nikhazy back out for the ninth.
"I don't know how many opportunities you get to throw a shutout against your arch-rival at their ballpark in front of the largest crowds in college baseball. He felt great and looked like he was in total control," Bianco said.
The Rebels' offense has produced big innings in many games this season. Saturday they pushed across a run in the first when Hayden Dunhurst doubled to the right field corner and went on to score in each of the first five innings and in six of the first seven.
The Rebels (26-9, 9-5 SEC) had 12 hits through five innings.
Freshman right-hander Will Bednar was gone after three innings. He gave up seven hits, six earned runs and saw his 2.10 ERA climb to 3.55.
Every Ole Miss starter hit safely, led by Dunhurst with three.
Other heroes included TJ McCants — he had a solo home run in the Rebels' 5-2 loss Friday — who tripled and scored in the second and Cael Baker who had two hits and two RBIs.
This season Baker has dealt with a COIVD-19 pause on opening weekend and a hand injury that required surgery. He's floundered below .200 much of the season but carries a three-game hit streak into today's series finale.
The offense was welcome, but in keeping with a theme used by Ole Miss marketing for Nikhazy's starts it was truly "Doug Day."
"He's one of the better arms in the league and in the country," MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. "He got a lead, and he took that lead and jammed it down our throats all day long."
