It took a masterful performance from Doug Nikhazy, a little luck and a little help, but #1 seed Ole Miss baseball edged #3 seed Florida State, 4-3 Saturday night to take full command of the NCAA Oxford Regional.
Nikhazy tied Ole Miss’ single-game record with 16 strikeouts and moved to 4th all-time on the Rebels’ single-season strikeout chart. After 7.0 strong innings, Nikahzy passed the baton to Taylor Broadway, who notched his 15th save of the season with 2 flawless innings to seal the deal.
It was a tough night offensively against the Seminole arms as Ole Miss notched just four hits, two off the bat of Kevin Graham, who extended his reached-base streak to 55 games with a pair of singles. All four Rebel runs crossed on Florida State errors.
This was the first win for Ole Miss vs. Florida State on the baseball diamond since 1972 (FSU now leads the all-time series 7-2)
Ole Miss head baseball coach Mike Bianco, left fielder Kevin Graham, and starting pitcher Doug Nikhazy all met with the media postgame to talk about the nail biting win. Video is courtesy of the Ole Miss Athletics.