Rebel Roundabout: Ole Miss baseball is late-season searching with a trip to Auburn next
The final weeks of another underwhelming Ole Miss baseball regular season have arrived.
The Rebels (23-21, 7-14 SEC) still have a path to make the postseason, but they’re also quickly running out of time. Up next is a three-game road trip to Auburn (21-22, 3-18) this weekend.
“I’ve always said losing sucks the life out of you,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “But it is what it is. We’ve dug ourselves into this hole and you’ve got to fight your way out of it.”
Ole Miss is coming off a 5-1 loss to in-state rival Mississippi State in the Governor’s Cup.
The Rebels currently boast the No. 3 strength of schedule in the country. Second-year slugger Will Furniss is hitting .333 with three home runs and 10 RBI over his last 12 games. Arizona State transfer infielder Luke Hill has posted a .367 mark with five RBI over his last eight.
Auburn finished 34-23-1 (17-13) last season and hosted a regional. Cooper McMurray is hitting .329 with 49 RBI. He leads the Tigers with 12 home runs.
Ole Miss and Auburn have met 191 times in history. The Rebels hold a 98-92 advantage in the series. The gap was closed with an Auburn sweep last season.
RELATED: Ole Miss begins its final push through SEC play, searching for a postseason berth
OLE MISS WOMEN’S GOLF DUO EARNS 2024 All-SEC ACCOLADES
Caitlyn Macnab, this week, earned All-SEC honors for the first time in her Ole Miss career.
Macnab was named to the second team. Andrea Lignell was placed on the SEC Community Service Team.
It’s been a career year for Macnab. The junior has posted a team-leading and career-best season stroke average (70.57) in 10 tournaments. She brought home her second career title at the Mason Rudolph Championship and had eight Top 20 finishes.
Macnab has set a number of new Ole Miss records, including the lowest season stroke average of any Rebel in history. She tied for the lowest-ever 54-hole score of any Rebel at the Cougar Classic.
Macnab shot a 203 (-10) to help the Rebels to their first team title of the 2023-24 campaign. Macnab also has for the second-most rounds in the 60s (7).
OLE MISS MEN’S GOLD EARNS NO. 2 SEED IN STANFORD REGIONAL
Ole Miss men’s golf earlier this week earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season and 16th time in program history.
The Rebels are the No. 2 in the Stanford Regional, their highest seeding in school history.
“I think it says a lot as far as how far we’ve come as a program,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Malloy said. “When I took this job 10 years ago, we made a commitment to not take any shortcuts, to do it the right way, and to take our lumps for a little while. But here we are. We’re starting to really reap the benefits from that.”
Ole Miss will be appearing in an NCAA Regional for the eighth time in 10 seasons under Malloy. The Rebels’ seven straight regionals is their longest such streak in history.
Ole Miss earned the at-large bid following a 2023-24 slate in which the Rebels finished inside the Top 5 in all but two tournaments. They finished in the Top 3 in five.
