Doug Nikhazy outdueled Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker to lift Ole Miss to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Commodores on Friday night.
Taking over the Rebels’ ace role in the wake of Gunnar Hoglund’s season-ending injury, Nikhazy struck out 10 over seven innings of one-run ball to improve to 7-2 this season. The junior left-hander only walked two and conceded five hits.
No. 18 Ole Miss scored all of its runs via the long ball against the No. 2 team in the country.
Freshman TJ McCants hit a two-run home run in the second inning to spark the offense, and Kevin Graham followed up with a solo shot in the third.
Vanderbilt got on the board in the seventh inning thanks to a solo home run by Isaiah Thomas, but the Rebels shut the door down the stretch.
Taylor Broadway allowed just one hit over the final two innings to seal his 10th save this year.
For Rocker (11-2), a projected top overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, it marked just his second loss of the season on the mound.
The highly-touted junior allowed three runs on five hits over seven innings of work, walking one while striking out eight batters.
The victory keeps alive Ole Miss’ hopes of hosting a regional baseball series in the NCAA tournament.
The Rebels were selected as one of 20 potential hosts, though they likely need to win this weekend’s series and next weekend’s series at Georgia to earn a bid.
nContact Riley Overend at 581-7237 or roverend@gw-commonwealth.com. Follow @OverendOut on Twitter.
