The Ole Miss Rebels will play in the familiar confines of Swayze Field throughout the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 national seed.
Ole Miss (46-15) comes into the NCAA tournament as the automatic bid and SEC tournament champions. The Rebels rallied in Hoover to win four straight games after a loss to Auburn early on. The team clenched the title after a 9-1 win again the LSU Tigers.
“We played really well even though we lost the opening game,” Ole Miss Head Coach Mike Bianco said. “Just look at the score (9-3) in a game that we had control of most of the way through six innings and, as baseball happens, it just kind of turned on us. It was a great run, and any time you take home a trophy it’s huge.”
The Oxford regional will host Saint Louis, Missouri State and Tennessee Tech. Ole Miss will take the diamond against Saint Louis at 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network following the Missouri State, Tennessee Tech matchup at 2 p.m.
“I am excited and proud of our guys, team and fans,” Bianco said. “Last season was tough and I’m proud of how the guys bounced back in just one season. They played great baseball all year long and are certainly deserving of this.”
The winner of the Oxford regional faces the winner of the Austin, Texas regional in the super regionals, which Ole Miss will host. These two regionals were matched in 2005 when the Rebels faced the Texas Longhorns in the super regionals at Swayze.
A total of 10 teams from the SEC made it into the field of 64.
Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.
