Ole Miss pitcher Gunnar Hoglund learned how to consistently hit his spots at the plate at a young age.

He had no choice. He had to make sure his father, Thomas, didn’t get hurt.

“He caught my bullpens with no gear on,” Hoglund said. “If you bounce one in there you might hurt him so you just have to dot up.”

Those sessions helped Hoglund live in the strike zone for the better part of his career.

Regarded by scouts as one of the best strike throwers in the country, Hoglund has already been tabbed a preseason All-American by both D1Baseball and Collegiate Baseball.

“It started when I was younger working with my dad all the time,” Hoglund said. “He always preached solid mechanics and great arm action.”

Hoglund (6-4, 220 pounds), the 36th overall selection in the 2018 MLB draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, ranks first in strikeouts and strikeout-to-walk ratios among returning SEC pitchers and is once again at the heart of one of the deepest starting rotations in college baseball.

Hoglund, fellow 2021 draft prospect Doug Nikhazy and sophomore right-hander Derek Diamond spearhead a staff that’s currently 22-pitchers deep according to coach Mike Bianco.

Last season, the trio sparked Ole Miss on a 16-1 start before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season.

“The way all three of us work together is really good,” Nikhazy said. “We bounce ideas off each other constantly. I’m constantly asking Gunnar stuff like how he throws his slider. Derek asks me stuff. It’s a good dynamic and a good relationship. We all evaluate and conquer our nervousness on the mound differently so we study how each of us does that up there.”

Ole Miss coach said his plan is for Hoglund to start the second game of a three-game series as he did in last year’s abbreviated season when he went 3-0 with a 1.16 ERA in four starts, striking out 37 and walking only four batters.

Hoglund, ranked No. 14 among college prospects by Baseball America, has walked only 18 in 91 1/3 innings as a starter for the Rebels over the past two seasons throwing a fastball that has touched 96 mph and he can throw consistently in the 91-94 range. The development and separation of his slider from his fastball as well as his ability to mix in a low-80s changeup effectively.

Hoglund is a projected first-round pick for the 2021 draft, but increased velocity and a strong season could further improve his chances of being an early selection.

“We wanted him to locate the fastball better and he needed more of a killer, swing and miss pitch,” Bianco said. “The curveball had a nice break but it was too soft and it just wasn’t a great pitch and didn’t get enough swings and misses. We started to tinker with a slider that he threw in high school but not as a freshman. That made a difference for him. And just commanding the fastball better. He’s been able to do that better and the velocity has ticked up. He’s the whole package now.”

Bianco said Nikhazy, a lefty junior who is ranked the No. 38 overall college prospect in the nation by Baseball America, will open every series on Friday nights as he did in 2020 when he posted a 2.35 ERA in 23 innings (four starts).

Nikhazy, a third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball in 2020, struck out 86 batters in 89 2/3 innings in 2019 setting a school record for a freshman.

“When you roll Doug Nikhazy out there you always feel like you have a chance to win and it’s tough to win in our league if you don’t win on Friday nights,” Bianco said. “There are so many aces around the league. We’ve had years where we’ve had good teams but we didn’t pitch well enough on Friday nights and we were just swimming upstream the rest of the weekend.”

Nikhazy, like Hoglund, has a solid three-pitch mix with a low-90s fastball, curveball and changeup, but worked in the offseason to fine-tune a slider he added to his arsenal last season. Bianco expects the pitch to help him especially against left-handed hitters, against which he struggled as a freshman.

“With his fastball, his vertical break is anywhere from 18-21 inches and almost opposite vertical drop with the curveball,” Bianco said. “That gives him about three feet for the ball to travel there in the zone and make it harder for hitters. The slider has given him another weapon. He’s learned to throw it firmer. We concentrated in the fall on his location and not missing as much with it.”

Diamond, who went 2-0 with a 3.48 ERA as a freshman, was injured in the summer with a forearm strain. Diamond, a 40th-round pick of the Diamondbacks in 2019 out of Ramona High in California, hit and played outfield in the fall, but didn’t pitch until the late fall in scrimmages and some bullpens according to Bianco.

“His velocity has ticked up some from the low-90s where he was, and his slider has improved and become more of an out pitch and his changeup has improved as well,” Bianco said.

The SEC is replete with tough pitching rotations on teams like Vanderbilt, Florida, Mississippi State and LSU. But the trio of Hoglund-Nikhazy-Diamond is a big reason the Rebels are ranked in the top 5 in the country by D1Baseball, Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America in their respective preseason rankings.

“Even when you’re catching bullpens they’re throwing fastballs 95 miles per hour,” Ole Miss catcher Hayden Dunhurst said. “They’re throwing it chest high to knee-high on the strings. It’s fun when you’re catching guys who know what they’re doing, know how to pitch, know how to locate all of their pitches and how to read batters and follow them so it’s unique in all ways.”

Andre has covered baseball at the high school, college and both minor-league and major-league levels for the past 15 years for multiple publications including the Miami Herald, the Athletic and Baseball America. You can follow him at @FernandezAndreC on Twitter.