Count Ole Miss senior first baseman Will Furniss on looking forward to the trip to Lincoln, Nebraska.
“I’m really excited about it,” Furniss said Monday in a press conference dealing with the Rebels selection as a No. 2 seed in the Lincoln Regional at the University of Nebraska and a Friday night date with No. 3 seed Arizona State (37-19).
“The atmosphere is going to be great, with a good crowd there,” the Ole Miss senior said. “It’s a good matchup for us. We look to win on Friday and likely get Nebraska on Saturday. We’re going to be locked in, but it’s about taking it one pitch at a time. We know last year, we got to the championship game but came up a little bit short.”
Ole Miss lost to upstart Murray State in the Oxford Regional last year. The last time Ole Miss was in Nebraska it won the 2022 College World Series in Omaha, beating Oklahoma in the final game, 4-2.
Furniss, who bats .315 and has 52 RBIs, said the team needed a bit of break after a grinding 10-week SEC series schedule followed by an immediate SEC Tournament game. It played a part in a Tuesday morning loss to 16-seed Missouri, 10-8 in Hoover, Ala.
“I think we’re now ready to play again,” Furniss said of what will be a 10-day stretch with no games.
“The break has been good for us. It has helped (Cade) Townsend,” he said.
With Townsend bouncing back and the emergence of No. 3 starter Taylor Rabe, Furniss likes the Rebels pitchers.
“With (Hunter) Elliott, that’s a 1-2-3, I wouldn’t look forward to seeing,” Furniss said. “Rabe has really been good the last three weeks. He’s not talked a lot about, but he should.”
Rabe was great in his last start, striking out 12 against No. 7 national seed Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Ole Miss won his start, 9-0.
“The three fastballs are going between 96 to 98, including the four-seemer,and his cutter. Then he has the slider,” Furniss said.
