NCAA Regional Profile: #10 National Seed Ole Miss hosts in Oxford, MS

(NCAA photo/CBC image)

By College Baseball Central writers Micah Beutell, Bo Carter, Noah Darling, Caleb Donnelley, Mark Garland, Andrew Kube, Doug Kyle, Jake Mastroianni, Jake McKeever, Andrew Riedell, and Colton Watson

Host: Ole Miss Rebels (Swayze Field/Oxford-University Stadium)

1. Ole Miss (40-19, 16-14 Southeastern Conference)

2. Georgia Tech (40-17, 19-11 Atlantic Coast Conference)

3. Western Kentucky (46-12, 18-9 Conference USA)

4. Murray State (39-13, 17-8 Missouri Valley Conference)

#1 Ole Miss

RPI* 12  SOS 5  Record vs Q1: 19-15 Q2: 1-2

The Ole Miss baseball program didn’t enter the 2025 season with a lot of fanfare. The 2024 season ended disastrously, suffering a walkoff home run from rival Mississippi State at the SEC Tournament in Hoover they’d made as the 12th seed. There was talk of former 2022 starter Hunter Elliot returning from a serious arm injury, but the big news was not who was coming back, it was who had left, namely Liam Doyle and Andrew Fischer departing to SEC rival Tennessee.

On top of that, Coach Mike Bianco had booked some big-time early season competition at the Shriner’s Children's Hospital Showdown: Arizona, Texas, and Clemson. Although shut out and run-ruled by the Longhorns 10-0, the Rebels took the other two and headed home.

After conference play began by hosting #3 Arkansas, the Rebels lost the home series to the Razorbacks and then a midweek to ranked Southern Miss. But, a home series against Missouri was just what they needed to get back on track, and they did, with a sweep. Series wins at home over Florida and at Kentucky improved outlooks, and a home series was lost to Tennessee but well fought nonetheless.

A surprising second straight series loss was incurred at South Carolina, and a bit of doubt threatened to bubble up. That was offset by winning a neutral site non-conference contest in extra innings over Mississippi State, along with a home series win over Vanderbilt. Two more series were lost, at both Oklahoma and Mississippi State, but the Rebels closed the regular season with two wins at eventual National Seed Auburn.

The run continued at the SEC Tournament in Hoover. Pitching led the way to three high profile wins, 3-1 over hot Florida, 5-2 over strong Arkansas, and 2-0 over perpetual juggernaut nemesis LSU. Running into #1 overall seed Vanderbilt, the Rebels gave the Commodores all they wanted, closing in the 9th to the eventual 3-2 outcome.

Led by the rejuvenated Elliot (9-3, 3.09 ERA) on the mound with fellow starter Riley Maddox (6-5, 5.26 ERA), the Rebels can also relieve with the best of them with Mason Morris (5-1, 3.28 ERA) and Gunnar Dennis (4-1, 3.75 ERA) setting things up for closer Connor Spencer (0-1, 1.61 ERA, 7 saves).

At the plate, the Rebels have two regulars hitting over .300, Luke Hill ;(.329, 35 RBI, 8 HR) and Mitchell Sanford (.303, 40 RBI, 15 HR), but what may be more impressive is that five others join Sanford with 10 or more HRs: Austin Fawley (17), Judd Utermark (16), Isaac Humphrey and Ryan Moerman (11 each), and Will Furniss (10).

How Ole Miss wins the regional: The Rebels pick up where they left off in Hoover, with suffocating pitching silencing opponent bats, and the rowdy atmosphere, which is a shock to anyone outside the SEC when they come to town, intimidates like nothing they’ve seen before.

#2 Georgia Tech

RPI* 21  SOS 20  Record vs Q1: 15-12 Q2: 5-3

Georgia Tech won the ACC Regular Season Championship on the last day of the regular season with an 8-2 win over Duke. Georgia Tech was not selected to host, despite winning the ACC Regular Season, which came as a surprise to many, including Coach Danny Hall, who said quote “It’s ridiculous,” when the 16 host sites were made public on Saturday afternoon. 

Georgia Tech still has one of the most potent lineups in America, led by Sophomore phenom, Drew Burress This Georgia Tech lineup can hang with anyone. Six different hitters in the Georgia Tech lineup ended the season with a .930+ OPS and 35+ RBI. This is a very well-rounded lineup that will make pitchers pay for not executing pitches.

Georgia Tech’s pitching will have to shape up for the Yellow Jackets to make a run to Omaha in coach Danny Hall’s last season in the dugout. Mason Patel is the workhorse of the Jackets staff, as he goes, so goes the Yellow Jackets pitching, and this team will go as far as the pitching staff will go. Patel had a 2.74 ERA this season in 65.2 innings out of the bullpen for the Yellow Jackets.

For Georgia Tech to advance out of the Oxford Regional, they’re going to have to pitch, Tate McKee who has been their Friday guy all season, is going to have to give the Jackets a chance to win in his start. 

#3 Western Kentucky

RPI* 42  SOS 185  Record vs Q1: 3-5 Q2: 7-4

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers were considered a bubble team for the majority of the conference tournament week but after Dallas Baptist ended up losing and being eliminated it left the CUSA Auto-Bid up for grabs and the Hilltoppers capitalized and did not leave it up to the committee. The Hilltoppers came into the Oxford regional as the three seed after a 46-12 record and an 18-9 conference record with an RPI of 42 this season. WKU nearly swept through the CUSA awards this season as Coach Marc Rardin won Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year went to Dillon Napoleon this season. The Player and Newcomer of the Year also went to Ryan Wideman who hit .398 with 10 home runs and 68 RBIs with 45 stolen bases this year. The strong suit of the Hilltoopers though has been the pitching staff led by pitchers like Jack Bennett and Lucas Hartman. Bennett has pitched his way to a 7-1 record with a 2.74 ERA and 48 strikeouts this season. As Hartman has pitched to a 2.44 ERA in his 51 innings this season.

#4 Murray State

RPI* 88  SOS 258  Record vs Q1: 1-1 Q2: 1-0

The Murray State Racers probably secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament field when they were regular season co-champions of the MVC. But, just to make sure, they went ahead and won the tournament’s automatic bid as well with a 10-5 win over Missouri State.

Journeying to Oxford for the NCAA Regional should feel familiar for them in several ways. First, they gave the host Rebels all they wanted back in March, falling 8-7 in 10 innings after taking a 7-4 lead in the 7th inning. And, should they meet 3 seed Western Kentucky, their paths crossed earlier this season too, a 2-1 win in 12 innings way back in February. They’ve also claimed a 5-4 win over fellow Bluegrass State school Kentucky.

The Racers swept through the MVC tournament, beating Belmont, Southern Illinois, and UIC before the finals victory. They placed four players on the All-Tournament team, MVP Dustin Mercer (.335, 32 RBI), Dan Tauken (.270, 66 RBI, 8 HR), Jonathan Hogart (.333, 56 RBI, 16 HR), and Jacob Hustedde (1-0, 4.35 ERA, 39K in 39 1/3 IP). Their top two starting pitchers are Isaac Silva (8-2, 4.12 ERA) and Nick Shutte (7-3, 4.02 ERA). Dom Decker (.351, 39 RBI) leads the regulars in batting average, and Carson Garner (.277, 53 RBI, 16 HR) is tied with Hogart for the home run lead.

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*-Warren Nolan RPI