Ole Miss baseball adds some pop with UNO outfielder Mitchell Sanford
Ole Miss baseball added on Friday its third transfer in as many days.
Jake Thompson of the Ole Miss Spirit is reporting the Rebels have landed UNO outfielder Mitchell Sanford. Sanford is a rising redshirt senior. He hit .381 with 15 home runs, four triples, 21 doubles and 68 RBI last season.
Ole Miss is the fourth transfer stop for Sanford. He spent two seasons at New Orleans and others at LSU and UT-Arlington.
“We’ve got to play better defense,” Ole Miss hitting coach Mike Clement told the Ole Miss Spirit back in May. “We’re always going to be in the market for a pitcher or two. We’re always going to be in the market for the best available hitter — whatever that looks like or wherever that guy plays.
“But you can’t win and be bad defensively. We’ve got gaps to fill from that standpoint.”
Sanford’s commitment follows a few more from infielder Luke Cheng and outfielder Ryan Moerman. Ole Miss has BYU catcher Collin Reuter in the fold as well.
Cheng hit .270 with 99 hits, 14 doubles and a home run over four years at Illinois State. He had a .373 average and 11 RBI in 16 games last season. Moerman had 31 home runs, 21 doubles and 104 RBI in a three-year career at Illinois. He hit .259 with 19 home runs and 53 RBI last season. He was an All-Big Ten selection.
“I’m pumped and excited to get to Oxford and get to work,” Cheng told the Spirit’s Zach Berry. “It’s definitely a special place with some special people.
“I’m looking forward to getting Ole Miss back to where it belongs.”
LISTEN: Mike Clement lays out the off-season plan to fix Ole Miss baseball
RELATED: Grayson Saunier the latest Ole Miss pitcher to enter the transfer portal
The last few weeks (if not months) have been turbulent for the Rebels.
They lost their best hitter, Andrew Fischer, and arguably their best pitcher, Liam Doyle, to the transfer portal in its closing minutes. Wes Mendes, too. JT Quinn left for Georgia.
Ole Miss struck out on three marquee visitors, including the brother of Jackson Ross, a lineup regular for the Rebels last season after his own transfer from FAU.
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And they still have the MLB Draft to worry about. Slade Caldwell, a high-school signee, is expected to get drafted and sign. Other candidates include Owen Paino.
Ole Miss is coming off back-to-back losing seasons after winning its first-ever national championship in the summer of 2022. Mike Bianco is entering his 25th season as head coach.
However, Bianco and staff weren’t extended in the off-season. Bianco hired Joel Mangrum from the Cleveland Guardians organization as pitching coach. Notable returners include infielder Luke Hill and slugger Will Furniss.
“Obviously the past two years have not been what our standard is,” Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter said. “Coming off the national championship and the high of that, just not the consistency and the standard that we expect with Ole Miss baseball.
“(Bianco) has had a great career at Ole Miss. Built a lot of equity — and I felt like he needed another year, at least, to try and fix it. We know next year could be a huge year.”
