1 of 1- catfishboy
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Ole Miss Baseball - Much riding on Rebels' west coast trip
Much riding on Rebels' west coast trip
The task falls on the Ole Miss baseball team to carry the year for the school’s more prominent programs.
Generally speaking that group includes football, men’s and women’s basketball and now baseball.
This is the last chance for Ole Miss fans to cheer for a team that is something more than average.
There is a good vibe around football for how the team finished, and that’s something Matt Luke, no longer just the interim coach, hopes to take advantage of in spring drills.
Yes, last season could have gone south and been worse, but when the dust settled the Rebels were 6-6.
Basketball has been a disaster for both sexes. If there’s a postseason trip to be had the job falls to Mike Bianco and the Rebels.
Results forthcoming
And so far they look up to the challenge. We’ll know a lot more after this weekend as the Rebels visit perennial west coast power Long Beach State.
Ole Miss is ranked No. 9 by D1Baseball.com and is 8-0 after Tuesday’s comeback win against Murray State. The Rebels took a 7-6 walk-off win after a lethargic start on the mound as Murray scored four times in the top of the first.
There is excitement for this team, and there should be … as long as it’s taken in the proper context.
As the Rebels approached this very weekend a year ago they were 7-1 and hitting a collective .319. They stepped up in competition in a neutral site event in Houston against Baylor, Texas Tech and TCU. They hit .161 and scored a total of four runs in three losses.
The Rebels never regained the offensive consistency necessary to compete, going on to hit just .253.
The good news about this 2018 team is that players who didn’t hit well last year are hitting right now, guys like Grae Kessinger, Chase Cockrell, Thomas Dillard and Cole Zabowski.
These guys were newcomers last year. Dillard, Zabowski and Cockrell were all hitting .320 or better going into the Texas weekend. It’s important that they hit well to prove to themselves that their improvement is not a fluke.
It’s also important that Grae Kessinger – a different hitter after a .175 average as a freshman – has a good series. That might not mean hitting .452 as he’s doing right now but having quality at-bats with good swings and hits, something to drive home the fact that he can be a successful offensive player for the long term.
Ole Miss – without huge numbers from senior Will Golsan, who will likely turn things around – is hitting a collective .308. The Rebels have played solid baseball in eight games.
The buzz around this team is deserving, but there’s a lot riding on this weekend.
SOURCE: Alford, Parrish. "Much riding on Rebels' west coast trip." Daily Journal, 1 March 2018,
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- MeridianOMRebel
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Re: Ole Miss Baseball - Much riding on Rebels' west coast trip
I've been pretty excited to see these guys hitting so well, thus far. Like last year, it's entirely possible the wheels can come off, but that group of freshmen last year that struggled so much have looked so much better at the plate. Grae has looked like a totally different player. Hopefully they'll continue to swing the bats well. Our weekend pitching (especially Fri and Sat) will win us a bunch of games.