We continue to count down the days to Ole Miss Baseball. With 4️⃣2️⃣ days until opening day, we take a look at jersey number 47 Sam Tookoian. Sam is another long Diamond Reb on the mound standing at 6'5" 240 lb, and he is a sophomore out of Fresno, Cal. where he attended Buchanan High School. Tookoian is a strong RHP with an extra-large frame with square shoulders. Sam approaches the rubber from the 1B side before a side step delivery where he stands tall on the backside before an online stride with a high above-the-belt leg kick. Tookoian uses his strength to deliver a fastball in the low to mid 90s that topped out at 96 mph with running life during Fallball at Swayze (for those folks at home that's a +4 mph gain on his fastball velo since his arrival in Oxford in the summer of '22, and I still think he has a bit more in the tank). Sam also throws an 11-to-5 curveball with short depth. Both pitches are made even better by his ability to pound the strikezone. Took does have an 82 mph changeup that he throws in for good measure to keepthe batter honest. Sam Tookoian is a strike thrower with a solid feel and the strength to make each and every pitch count. In his true freshman season, Sam gathered 30.1 innings of invaluable experience and allowed 16 earned runs on 25 hits and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 44-to-28. "Took" will be looking to improve those stats by trusting his stuff and continuing to fill up the zone. Sam worked through some shoulder tendinitis at the end of the fall, but he recovered well by bringing his velo back to a consistent 93-96 mph in late October. Expect Coach Mike Bianco to rely on Sam Tookoian even more this season than he did in 2023 in long relief that has the potential to take over a midweek starting role. Tookoian has everything it takes to be a weekend starter as early as the middle to the end of 2024, but the Diamond Rebs pitching staff is very deep this season. Until the time comes for him to start, Sam will undoubtedly step up and play a major role for the Diamond Rebs down the stretch from the bullpen.