OXFORD —–While the last two seasons have not gone according to plan, Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco isn’t in a hurry to alter the larger goals – the biggest being to bring another national title to Oxford – for the program he’s been leading for a quarter century.
Since winning the College World Series in 2022, Ole Miss has suffered two-straight losing seasons and has missed consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Despite hovering around .500 for much of the latter half of the 2024 season, the Rebels were in the postseason hunt due to a strong strength of schedule. Ole Miss lost its final six games, though, the last coming to Mississippi State in walk-off fashion in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
Ole Miss begins its 2025 season at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown Friday through Sunday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Rebels will face No. 21 Arizona, No. 19 Texas and No. 15 Clemson over three-straight days.
“Those (broader) goals have always been the same. This weekend, particularly, the goal is, just like any weekend is, you want to play well,” Bianco said. “ … It’s not a secret that we haven’t been the team that we expect to be the last couple years. And so, this is going to be like an SEC weekend. It’s not the end all, be all, but it’s a good test out of the gate to figure out how to win a weekend.”
For the first time in two years, Ole Miss will have a fully healthy Hunter Elliott at its disposal. Elliott, a freshman All-American in 2022 and the team’s Friday-night starter to begin his sophomore season, made two appearances in 2023 and missed all of last year due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. The redshirt junior will start Friday against the Wildcats, followed by senior Riley Maddox on Saturday and senior Mason Nichols on Sunday. All three were members of the Rebels’ 2022 national title-winning team.
“Experience is, I think, so, so important, on both sides of the ball. Old teams win in college baseball. And talent matters, but experience matters probably more, and especially if you have talented experience,” Bianco said. “ … Old seems to win, especially on the mound, guys that have been through the rigors of the Southeastern Conference … They’ve been beaten up and have been victorious and kind of know how to navigate and get through that.”
Ole Miss will also have a formal pitching coach this season. Joel Mangrum, who was previously the minor league pitching coordinator for the Cleveland Guardians, was hired by the Rebels in June. Mangrum will call pitches.
“You’re not just getting (professional-level) development, you’re getting some of the best at that level,” Elliott said. “He’s got us really locked into our routines, he’s got us really locked in and kind of knowing ourself and our individual mechanics. And the development’s just been outrageous.”
The Rebels’ batting order will contain a mix of returners and several highly-touted transfer and high-school recruits. True freshman shortstop Owen Paino, who was one of the key pieces of the Rebels’ high school recruiting class, will start at shortstop this weekend in a lineup Bianco said will be “fluid through the first several weeks.” Paino was ranked as the No. 21 national recruit by Perfect Game USA.
Junior Will Furniss will start at first base, sophomore Brayden Randle and junior Luke Hill will be at second, Hill and Judd Utermark at third, sophomore Campbell Smithwick and sophomore Kentucky transfer Austin Fawley at catcher and senior New Orleans transfer Mitchell Sanford, senior Illinois transfer Ryan Moerman and senior Louisville transfer Isaac Humphrey in the outfield. Bianco mentioned junior BYU transfer Collin Reuter, freshman Hayden Federico and senior Illinois State transfer Luke Cheng could also “get a start at DH or somewhere on the field.”
Among the emphases this offseason in building the Rebels’ roster was improving on defense. Ole Miss had the worst fielding percentage in the SEC last season and made a conference-high 66 errors.
“I think we’ve really almost upgraded just about every position defensively,” Bianco said.
Ole Miss’ season begins Friday against Arizona at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FloCollege.
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