OXFORD | Sixteen days passed between being temporarily forgotten and thriving as one of the final 16 teams in the country playing for a College World Series berth.
Ole Miss, on May 17, lost its sixth straight game overall and second consecutive at Tennessee to lose the series. One day remained in the regular season, but the Rebels were spiraling after a graduation-weekend sweep at home to Mississippi State, a five-run blown lead at Arkansas State and two clunkers in Knoxville.
Host chances seemed dead, and Ole Miss’ RPI had plummeted toward the mid 30s. But since that day, the Rebels are 8-2 and in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to play the Razorbacks Saturday at 11 a.m. in the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
After beating Tennessee that Saturday to end the skid, Ole Miss (40-25) won four games in the SEC Tournament before losing to Vanderbilt in the final and then rolled through the Oxford Regional, outscoring opponents 41-7 during the three games.
It’s a stark and sudden turnaround, but what caused it? Did the Rebels simply break out of the slump and play better? Did the mentality change? It’s probably a little bit of both, but it started with a different message following that second loss to Tennessee.
“They were 18-22 year old kids who were tight, gripping it too tight,” Ole Miss pitching coach Carl Lafferty said.
“(Mike Bianco) had a great message for them. He told them they can’t do this this way. ‘You’re playing baseball like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You have to let it go, man, say the heck with it and just play. Be yourselves and play and let the chips fall where they may.’ When this team does that they can be really good. That clicked for them. They really started taking a breath and exhaled and just played.”
Four days before that moment in Oxford, Bianco gathered his team in the dugout before a practice at Swayze Field and challenged them. The message was stern and focused but didn’t have an immediate effect. Bianco, to his credit, thinks the players just played better without any moment being the reason for it, but he does also acknowledge a change in tone.
“You try as a coach and you try to press the right buttons, and I pressed the wrong buttons for a long time,” Bianco said. “We won that game at Tennessee, but I don’t think that was it. We pitched well and won close games, got key hits. Somewhere along the line there was a different feeling in the dugout. You can feel so bad at times, but you can feel so good. Sometimes you don’t get out of that dark place and the season ends. That’s why I’m proud of these guys for hanging in there.”
Ole Miss is at the site where it jumpstarted its season back in March. The Rebels took two of three at Baum Stadium, clinching their fourth straight series win over the Razorbacks. Arkansas is the No. 5 national seed, the 2018 nationally runner-up and swept its regional in three games.
For the Rebels it’s about continuing the fun and the mindset without reverting backwards if something goes wrong.
"You can tell who’s going out there not scared with a competitive mindset, and you can tell the guys who are timid and want to compete but they’re not really going after it,” catcher Cooper Johnson said. “You have to enjoy competing and enjoy winning. We seemed tough as nails, but as soon as something didn't go our way we struggled sometimes to get back up off the mat. You just have to do it. You have to stay confident through the process.
“Right now we feel like we’re going to win every game.”
