Rebels continue to click on all cylinders in defeat of Arkansas at the College World Series

The Rebels are playing their best baseball of the season at the right time.

Hunter Elliott photo courtesy of Ole Miss athletics.

Hunter Elliott pitched six innings and allowed one earned run, while Tim Elko and Calvin Harris homered and combined for seven RBIs in Ole Miss's 13-5 win over Arkansas in a winner's bracket game at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., at Charles Schwab Field on Monday night. 

Peyton Stovall led the Razorbacks (44-20) with three RBIs and tied Braydon Webb for the team lead with two hits. Arkansas used seven pitchers on Monday, five of whom allowed runs, all of which were earned.

Justin Bench led Ole Miss with four hits and four runs scored. 

Ole Miss (39-22) advances to play the winner of Tuesday night's elimination game between Auburn and Arkansas--which will be played at 6 Central--at 6 on Wednesday evening. Should the Rebels win that one, they'll move to Saturday's championship series to face either Notre Dame, Texas A&M or Oklahoma.

Elliott's pitching has been one of the major factors in the Rebels' late-season surge. The freshman left-hander has allowed just two earned runs (four total) in 18 2/3 innings. On Monday, Elliott scattered six hits, walked two and struck out four against a Razorback offense that has been red-hot throughout the tournament, one that put up 17 runs in a defeat of Stanford two days earlier.

So has Elko, the Rebels' beloved senior first baseman. He's hit in six of Ole Miss's seven NCAA tournament games with four home runs and 13 RBIs while reaching base 17 times. It was his two-run home run in the third that put the Rebels up 4-1. 

Harris added a two-run shot in the fifth for an 8-3 advantage. That was one of his three hits. 

Arkansas has also pitched well the last two weeks, but that didn't show up on Monday. Starter Zack Morris allowed two runs and didn't get out of the first. Relievers Evan Taylor (1 1/3 innings, two runs) and Kole Ramage (one inning, two runs) were no better, and it got worse when Jaxon Wiggins (1 1/3, four runs) imploded in the middle innings thanks to four hits and three walks. 

The good news for the Razorbacks: they should have Will McEntire fresh. The lefty was brilliant his last time out, firing 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a June 12 win over North Carolina. 

The Rebels now have two days to rest and perhaps re-set their pitching with Dylan DeLucia either on Wednesday, or perhaps in a Thursday elimination game should the Rebels lose that one. DeLucia has allowed one earned run in his last two starts, which span 13 2/3 innings.

In his last seven starts, Elliott has gone at least five innings five times, and in each of those outings has allowed one or zero earned runs. 

The Rebel bullpen has been even better; when Brandon Johnson entered the ninth with a 10-run lead, he allowed two earned runs--the first earned runs Ole Miss relievers have allowed in 30 days.