Ole Miss skipper Mike Bianco
JACKSON – Before heading to practice in Hoover in preparation for their Southeastern Conference Tournament opener with Missouri, Coach Mike Bianco and two of his star players made a pit stop at the Sports Hall of Fame for the annual Boo Ferriss Award.
Once over, Bianco, Judd Utermark, Cade Townsend, and aides, were on to Hoover, Ala. Hopefully, the Rebels (36-20) appearance in Hoover will be more than a pit stop.
Lowly Missouri, the 16th seed, is the foe for the Tuesday morning matchup. The Tigers are 23-30. They were swept by South Carolina, run-ruled by Georgia, and didn’t play a real challenging pre-SEC schedule. They also have a team earned run average of 5.70, bat around .260 and have only hit 48 home runs. Utermark and Tristan Bissetta have 40 home runs between with 20 each.
Still, Mizzou has played better of late. They battled Texas, in spite of a sweep, scoring six and seven runs in two of the three games. They also took two of three games from Vanderbilt to pretty much finish off any hopes for the Commodores making the NCAA Tournament this year.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, pretty much is looking at a No. 2 seed, unless they can win the tournament, or like last year, at least get to the final. Last year, the Rebs lost to Vanderbilt, which then got the No. 1 overall seed. Vandy then proceeded to get bounced out of the NCAAs, in quick fashion.
The Rebels lost its last series to Alabama, dropping Game 3, 6-2 in a flat performance. It came off one of the best performances of the year in a 9-0 win as Taylor Rabe and J.P. Robertson combined for a 2-hitter and 16 strikeouts.
“The game Friday is what we will need this week,” Utermark said at the Ferriss Award Monday. He was later named Second Team All-SEC, along with Townsend.
“Our two pitchers were spot on, keeping the ball low, and we played well behind them. I don’t how the math will work on a host. What we are focused on is winning games, one at a time.”
Townsend said the Rebs will go in with a simple plan, whether against Mizzou, or a potential rematch with No. 8 seed Mississippi State on Wednesday, provided they get past the Tigers.
“Win,” was Townsend’s one-word answer Monday.
Mizzou is led by two decent starters, Brady Kilenbach who is 3-9 with 92 strikeouts in 70 innings. His ERA, however, is 6.69. Josh McDevitt is 3-5 with 94 Ks in 73.2 innings and has a 4.03 ERA. Unfortunately, no one else stands out in the pen.
Ole Miss can go with All-Second Team SEC Hunter Elliott (5-3, 96 Ks in 73 innings) and first-team All-SEC closer Walker Hooks (3-1, 2.12 ERA and 53 Ks in 46.2 innings.
Rabe, meanwhile, has turned into the best Reb starter the last three weeks, and was just brilliant against Alabama with 12 fans.
At the plate, Will Furniss leads the Rebs at .322 and 52 RBI. Utermark and Bissetta have 20 homers each and 48 and 56 RBIs respectively.
Ole Miss plays Missouri at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday from Hoover.
