OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Dylan DeLucia allowed one run and struck out 10 in 7 2/3 innings and Mississippi continued its postseason roll with a 5-1 victory over Auburn in its College World Series opener Saturday night.
DeLucia mostly dominated an Auburn team that came in averaging just under 11 runs per game in the NCAA Tournament, 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,” Mississippi 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 punch-outs.”
Mississippi (38-22) will play a second straight Southeastern Conference West rival in Arkansas on Monday. The Razorbacks beat Stanford 17-2 on Saturday. Auburn (42-21) will meet Stanford in an elimination game.
After being the last at-large team selected for the NCAA Tournament, the Rebels won three straight in regionals and shut out Southern Mississippi twice in super regionals.
The Rebels scored four of their five runs against Auburn with two outs. Kemp Alderman drove in two with a base hit in the first inning off Joseph Gonzalez (7-4), Kevin Graham homered in the third and TJ McCants singled in a run in the sixth.
“That’s something we’ve emphasized since I got here, getting that big two-out hit,” Graham said. “With two outs, even with nobody on, there’s a lot of inning left. Those two-out runs can be huge. They can be back breakers.”
The run support was more than adequate for DeLucia (7-2), who had worked out of the bullpen before becoming a starter April 1.
DeLucia mixed a sharp slider with a…
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