Mike Bianco becomes a book-on-tape when asked about certain series or games meaning more or if parts of the schedule are easier than others.

Rewind. Repeat. Every year. For more than a decade. He provides some semblance of the following, emphasizing that in the Southeastern Conference, and in baseball in general, how you play is much more important than who you play.

“If you don’t show up and play well, you’re going to lose,” Bianco has said too many times to count. “No one feels sorry for you, and this league will humble you.”

Consider this weekend in Starkville as an excellent piece of evidence.

The Bulldogs matched their series opening run total for the season with a 13-3 mauling of Ole Miss in the first game, and while the Rebels carved out an easy five-run win to split Saturday, Sunday brought about a combination of sloppy play, tough luck and an MSU team finally flush with confidence to a 7-5 Bulldog victory to hand Ole Miss its first series loss of 2018.

The Rebels — now 27-6 and 7-5 in the SEC — head to Vanderbilt next weekend after a midweek against Southern Miss in Pearl smarting from the lack of winning plays, a phrase Ole Miss players and coaches have uttered most weekends as they dug out of deficits and showed a toughness that lacked last season.