College World Series 2014: Ole Miss will start Jeremy Massie against Virginia

Ole Miss will start left-handed senior Jeremy Massie on the mound Friday night in an elimination game against Virginia, according to Chase Parham of Rivals.

There had been some speculation that Ole Miss would go back to ace Chris Ellis, but with Ellis only on five days rest from his last outing against Virginia, head coach Mike Bianco apparently didn't think he was ready. Presumably Ellis would be able to go on Saturday if the Rebels win on Friday, but there's been no hard information that that's the case.

Massie has eight starts on the season, but has worked exclusively out of the bullpen so far in the NCAA Tournament. His last start came in the SEC Tournament during the Rebs' 7-2 win over Vanderbilt. Massie went 4⅓ innings, allowing one run off four hits. Including trips out of the pen, he has 20 appearances on the season with a 4-3 record and a 2.73 ERA.

One of those relief appearances came in Ole Miss's opening loss to the Cavaliers, when Massie took over for Ellis in the seventh inning. He gave up one cheap infield hit in his only inning of work, getting three outs and stranding in inherited runner on third.

Expect the first arm out of the bullpen on Friday to be Scott Weathersby, who hasn't thrown since Tuesday (and then just one inning). I wouldn't expect Wyatt Short or Josh Laxer to be available considering they both threw multiple innings on Thursday night, but it's possible that Aaron Greenwood, who only threw 18 pitches against TCU, could come back. In an emergency situation, you might even see Ellis out of the pen. This will be all hands on deck.

Massie will be facing off against Virginia righty Josh Sborz, who is 5-4 over 13 starts with a 3.04 ERA. The last time Sborz started, he threw seven shutout innings against Maryland in the Charlottesville Super Regional.