After three sweeping losses in Gainesville, many Ole Miss baseball fans are left wondering just what the future holds. With no midweek and a few extra days to get ready for A&M, the Ole Miss baseball team has to prepare to win. There is no other option.
It is easy to look back and see where Ole Miss baseball fell short against the competition. Of course, many of those people will oft look into the glass and see it as half-empty. This is not a half-empty kind of baseball team. This team is loaded and they know it. They are capable of having a deep run but it is beyond beginning soon. They have to begin now.
This Rebel team took 2 out of 3 against the ranked Razorbacks and then utterly destroyed UL-Monroe in a midweek series. They appeared to be on the verge of busting wide open offensively, and then the trip to No.5 Florida happened.
What Really Happened
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Ole Miss baseball (29-20, 11-13) is young. Period. This isn’t an excuse and surely not an exclamation. However, it is an affirmation.
This is the same Ole Miss baseball team which boasted the No.1 recruiting class in the nation. Not LSU, not TCU, nor Florida. So, what’s wrong? What really happened to this Rebel baseball team?
Baseball happened. This team found itself against the nation from the get-go. With the No.1 recruiting class great things are expected.
And although great things will eventually come, these young men are just that, they are young. Most of these players have never played a SEC season before. They haven’t had to face the rigors of a long schedule filled with three game series after three game series. And of course, they certainly have never faced the level of talent like they’ve seen thus far, especially on the mound. The SEC has a steady supply of great arms and each pitching staff has its aces.
Time Heals All Things
Offensively, coach Mike Bianco has some work to do with his young team but eventually they will catch up to the speed of the game on that side of the ball. I remember just a few years ago, the Rebels signed the best player in the nation. The freshman sensation came in and everybody expected him to be on fire. However, Tate Blackman struggled at the plate, hitting .197. It was his sophomore season when he broke out and hit .322. Time will fix this team’s offensive woes.
The Here And Now
Of course, the new rankings are out and Ole Miss baseball is absent. This comes as no surprise with the way we’ve tanked against the SEC schedule this season. However, this isn’t a bad team and actually is in a better spot than it could be right now.
Even though the Rebels are next to last in the SEC West, they have a far better record than four other teams in the conference. Barring some baseball apocalypse, the Rebels should be in the 12 team field at the SEC Tourney in Hoover.
However, Ole Miss baseball has to close out strong in their remaining regular season schedule. The Rebels will host No.19 Texas A&M this weekend at Swayze Field and then hit the road with a midweek against Arkansas State at Jonesboro. Ole MIss will then close out the regular season at Auburn.
This young team, when you break it down, are getting better at the plate. When they really begin to start hitting consistently then Ole Miss will be better in the win column. Does that begin this weekend against a gritty A&M team? We find out Friday at 6:30 pm.