OXFORD | Ole Miss was selected as a top-eight seed for the second time in school history on Monday, giving the Rebels home field advantage all the way to the College World Series.
The Rebels, winners of 11 of their last 13 games and SEC Tournament champions, are the No. 4 national seed in the NCAA Tournament which begins Friday. Ole Miss is joined in the Oxford Regional by No. 2 seed Tennessee Tech, No. 3 seed Missouri State and No. 4 seed Saint Louis.
Ole Miss (46-15) is 28-4 at Swayze Field this season and opens against the No. 4 seed Billikens on Friday. The Rebels have the No. 6 RPI heading into the postseason. The Rebels will likely face STL ace Miller Hogan on Friday. The right-hander has a 2.19 ERA and .196 batting average against in 102.2 innings. He has 127 strikeouts and 12 walks.
If the Rebels win the regional, Swayze will host the super regional round against the winner of the Austin Regional which consists of top seed Texas, Texas A&M, Indiana and Texas Southern.
It's the second time Ole Miss has been a national seed. The Rebels were the No. 5 overall seed in 2005, winning the regional in straight games before losing at home to eventual national champion Texas.
Tennessee Tech (RPI No. 23) is an at-large selection out of the Ohio Valley. It went 48-9 overall and 27-3 in the conference but lost two straight to Morehead State in the conference tournament finals. The Golden Eagles lead the country in batting average at .345 and home runs with 127. TT went 10-1 in games against Ole Miss common opponents, beating Vanderbilt and Tennessee in midweek games, sweeping Murray State and Austin Peay and losing one of three against Little Rock.
Missouri State (39-15, RPI 25) went 18-3 in the Missouri Valley and won the conference tournament. The Bears went 3-2 against Ole Miss common opponents, beating Arkansas State two of three, losing to Arkansas once and beating Murray State once.
Four-seed Saint Louis (38-18, 19-4) is the auto-bid out of the Atlantic 10 with a 93 RPI. There are no common opponents with the Rebels.
Ole Miss has won five of the seven regionals in Oxford and five in a row prior to going 0-2 in 2016. The Rebels are 15-5 in home regionals and 15-3 since 2005. The Rebels last won an NCAA postseason game in 2014 -- a College World Series win against TCU.
HOW THE REBELS HAVE FARED IN HOME REGIONALS
2004
Western Kentucky 1, Ole Miss 0
Washington 7, Ole Miss 2
2005
Ole Miss 5, Maine 0
Ole Miss 7, Oklahoma 3
Ole Miss 20, Oklahoma 5
2006
Ole Miss 3, Bethune-Cookman 2
Ole Miss 9, South Alabama 7
Ole Miss 12, Tulane 4
2007
Ole Miss 14, Sam Houston State 5
Ole Miss 4, Southern Miss 0
Ole Miss 21, Sam Houston State 13
2009
Ole Miss 8, Monmouth 1
Ole Miss 7, Western Kentucky 4
Western Kentucky 10, Ole Miss 9
Ole Miss 4, Western Kentucky 1
2014
Ole Miss 12, Jacksonville State 2
Ole Miss 2, Washington 1
Ole Miss 3, Washington 2
2016
Utah 6, Ole Miss 5
Tulane 6, Ole Miss 5