Why Ole Miss baseball will — and won't — win the College World Series

OXFORD Ole Miss baseball has proven preseason doubters wrong, earning a top seed in the NCAA tournament.The Rebels (40-19), the No.

10 national overall seed, will play Murray State (39-13) on May 30 (7 p.m.

CT, ESPN+) as the host of the Oxford Regional.

Georgia Tech is the No.

2 seed in the regional and will play No.

3 Western Kentucky.Ole Miss was picked to finish No.

15 in the SEC preseason coaches poll, but due in part to a deep run in the SEC tournament, has proven itself as one of the top teams in the conference.Buy Ole Miss baseball ticketsHere's why Ole Miss can and can't win the College World Series.A chunk of the Ole Miss roster already has a World Series ringEven though Ole Miss last won the College World Series in 2022, there's a decent chance whoever is batting against the Rebels will be facing a pitcher with a championship.Pitchers Hunter Elliott, Riley Maddox and Mason Nichols were all freshmen on that team.

Now they are senior anchors in the 2025 rotation.

Relief pitcher Brayden Jones is another player from 2022 still on the roster, but he is out for the season with a torn UCL.Elliott, Maddox and Nichols have been the Rebels' weekend pitchers.

They are the leaders in innings pitched, throwing a combined 19413 innings.

With Nichols expected back after an oblique injury, the rotation has invaluable experience to get Ole Miss back to Omaha.That, combined with playing in the SEC, which drew eight of the top-16 national seeds, have the Rebels battle-tested."There's no other league through the 10-week gauntlet and then of course this weekend, or the week here in Hoover, that prepares you more for postseason," coach Mike Bianco said.The Ole Miss offense needs to find a new gearOle Miss' deep run in the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama, was not because of its offense, which scored 12 runs in four games.But the Rebels are fifth in the SEC with 443 runs this season (7.5 runs per game), so the offense is better than what it has showed of late.Ole Miss will need more to advance in the regional.

The three teams going in Georgia Tech, Western Kentucky and Murray State are all top-three in runs in their respective conferences.

If chalk holds and the Rebels have to travel to Georgia for the super regionals, they will face a Bulldogs team that is No.

3 in the SEC in runs.Ole Miss has not been swept There have been some ugly series for the Rebels, but they have always limited the damage.They have not been swept this season, though they came close twice.

They were down 0-2 in road series against Oklahoma and South Carolina, but won both Game 3's by a combined score of 19-5.That type of resiliency could help the Rebels if they drop an early game in either a regional, super regional or the College World Series."This is a team that there's been certain games that we haven't played well and certain weekends we haven't played well, but the team hasn't been swept all year," Bianco said.

"We've been pretty consistent, and we've had a bad game or bad weekend, this team has responded."MORE: Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin on 'College Football 26' deluxe coverThe Oxford Regional is an early hazardWinning the College World Series starts with getting out of a regional.

Even though Ole Miss is at home, it will be a tough feat.Georgia Tech was thought of as a potential host team.

The Yellow Jackets won the ACC regular season with a 19-11 record.

Western Kentucky (46-12) and Murray State (39-13) are two other teams accustomed to winning."Pretty difficult one right off the bat," Bianco said.

"No.

4 seed that won (39) games.

All these teams statistically do everything well.

You try to go, 'Hey, what's going to be the Achilles' (heel)?' but they've all had great years .

.

.

It's quite a field coming to Oxford."Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger.

Email him at [email protected] or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Ole Miss baseball can win College World Series.

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