OMAHA, Neb. – Dylan DeLucia allowed one run and struck out 10 batters in 7 2/3 innings, and Ole Miss continued its postseason roll with a 5-1 victory over Auburn in the College World Series opener for both teams Saturday night.
DeLucia mostly dominated an Auburn lineup that came in averaging just less than 11 runs per game in the NCAA tournament, with the Ole Miss starter limiting the Tigers to four hits without a walk before giving way to Josh Mallitz.
“I thought Dylan was terrific, as he’s been not just down the stretch, but probably since we’ve injected him into the rotation,” Rebels coach Mike Bianco said. “Against what we consider a really good Auburn offense, I thought he just mixed his pitches so well, fastballs in and out, a ton of sliders for strikes and then able to move the slider to get some punchouts.”
Ole Miss (38-22) will play a second straight Southeastern Conference West Division rival when it faces Arkansas on Monday. Auburn (42-21) will meet Stanford in an elimination game.
After being the last at-large team selected for the NCAA’s 64-team field, the Rebels won three straight games in the regional round and shut out Southern Miss twice in a super regional.