Ole Miss 12th National Seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss was announced as the 12th overall seed on the Road to Omaha for the 2021 College World Series on Monday. The Oxford regional will begin on Friday, June 4 and run through Monday, June 7.

The Rebels are hosting an NCAA Regional for the 10th time since 2004 in the Mike Bianco era. 

“Just proud of our guys to host,”  Bianco said. “The 10th time in 16 years, quite an accomplishment for our guys.”

Coming to Oxford to join the Rebels in a double-elimination format will be No. 2 Southern Mississippi, No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Southeast Missouri State.

“Southeast Missouri is a very good four seed,” Bianco said. “(SEMO) has the conference pitcher of the year and conference champion. (It’s) a team that has played Arkansas and others and had a terrific year.”

The Rebels did not meet Southern Miss on the diamond during this regular season due to scheduling with COVID.

“Because we did not play Southern Miss this year, we don’t know as much about them,” Bianco said. “Over the course of the year, they pitched (the ball) great.”

Florida State is making its 43rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament as the team heads into Oxford.

“Florida State might have the Golden Spikes Award winner on their team and can pitch it well,” Bianco said. “Just a good field and really competitive, and the thing that stands out is that all three teams (coming in) all pitch it.”

Ole Miss comes into the regional with a 41-19 overall record after making it to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament last week. This is the first time since 2019 that the Rebels have played in the postseason after COVID canceled the season in 2020.

“Everybody is fired up and super excited to see all the young guys who have not been able to experience a regional here at Swayze,” Ole Miss team captain Tim Elko said.

The Oxford Regional pairs the Arizona Wildcats and the Tucson Regional.

The Oxford Regional’s Southern Miss and Florida State will take the diamond first on Friday at 2 p.m. on ESPNU. Ole Miss will play SEMO at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.