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OMAHA | Ole Miss and Arkansas know each other quite well.
The two teams played three games in Fayetteville at the end of April, with the Razorbacks winning two of those. Mike Bianco and Dave Van Horn (tied with Tim Corbin) are the two longest tenured baseball coaches in the SEC, serving 22 and 20 years at their respective schools.
But despite that familiarity, the scouting process was similar to how the Rebels would approach a less common opponent in preparation for Monday’s 6 p.m. College World Series matchup between the Rebels and the Razorbacks. The winner advances to the bracket final on Wednesday. The loser faces Auburn or Stanford on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Ole Miss assistant coach Chris Cleary does the bulk of the film breakdown for opponent scouting reports and packages that together for Bianco. Direction of operations Chris Goudoras handled the analytical reports, putting together items such as what Arkansas throws in each possible count and which pitches their hitters swing at or don’t swing at in different situations.
Bianco said on Sunday he planned to watch film from 3 p.m. after Ole Miss’ community service trip to the Omaha Home For Boys until dinner time, which he hoped was Cascio’s Steakhouse.
Bianco has four of his children, his wife, his father, his brother and other family in town and was searching for a table for 10. The Rebels ate at Cascio’s in 2014, and Bianco and his wife, Camie, ate there in 1989 when in Omaha with LSU. Bianco was the catcher on that Tigers team and Camie was an athletics trainer.
On Monday morning, the team meetings will be the same as any other opponent.
“Everybody asked all the SEC teams, and it would be wrong to say being familiar doesn’t matter,” Bianco said. “There’s a comfort in that and knowing the players and throwing to them, but also you have to keep that in perspective. It’s been a while. These guy we played more recently (than Auburn) but guys are hotter or colder than you’ve seen them.
“I’ll go through that tonight. In the morning we’ll have a pitcher’s meeting which is normal for a team we haven’t played in a while. Go through the lineup and scouting report and tinker with the reporter from before.”
Ole Miss and Arkansas faced off in the 2019 Fayetteville Super Regional, with Arkansas advancing in three games. Prior to Monday, that was the biggest meeting between the two teams, but by the end of Monday, one of them will be a game away from playing for a national title.
“We’ve had some wars with them over the years, some we’ve won and some we’ve haven’t,” Bianco said. “They’re really good and we’re good, and when you put that together it’s really good baseball games. We respect them a ton and what Dave has done in his tenure.”
Ole Miss is starting Hunter Elliott against the Razorbacks. The true freshman gave up three runs and four hits in six innings on April 30. Arkansas eventually won, 6-3, on a home run n the ninth inning, but Elliott struck out eight with a walk.
Elliott struck out 10 in 7.1 scoreless innings at Southern Miss in his last start.
The Rebels were 7-14 in the SEC leaving Fayetteville but are 14-3 since that time, including 6-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
“(What sticks out is) just how dangerous they are,” Van Horn said about Ole Miss. “Our comment has always been that if they get it going, they're as good as anyone in the country. I mean, this team was preseason ranked really high, top-five. They got off to a good start and then moved into the No. 1 spot. They played elite outside competition. And then they just went into a bit of a slump. I know they lost a player or two as far as injuries for a while and got them all back.
“It's one through nine, there aren't any easy outs there. They have a bonafide ace and a really good lefty, who is kind of an ace as well that we'll be facing tomorrow.”
