Not many current members of the Ole Miss baseball program have much experience playing against or in Nebraska.
Coach Mike Bianco said he’s never been there. Neither has Judd Utermark and there aren’t any player connections, either. That adds an element of unknown to the Rebels’ trip to the Lincoln Regional later this week.
More importantly, the teams competing against Ole Miss for a spot in the next round of the 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament are unfamiliar to the Rebels. Ole Miss has never played against South Dakota State and its been almost 20 years since Ole Miss face Arizona State in a NCAA Super Regional.
Nebraska and the Rebels have played the most recent game. In 2023, Ole Miss beat Nebraska 14-5 at the Cambria College Classic. But in today’s college sports landscape, there aren’t many players from that game still around. In fact, Utermark is the only Rebel still around who played in that game and Nebraska still has the same third baseman, Dylan Carey.
Still, there’s a lot of new for Ole Miss this weekend. Here’s a breakdown of the teams competing in the Lincoln Regional.
| Nebraska | Ole Miss | Arizona State | South Dakota State | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 42-13 | 36-21 | 37-19 | 20-31 |
| Conference Record | 23-7 (Big Ten) | 15-15 (SEC) | 19-11 (Big 12) | 12-15 (Summit) |
| RPI | 10 | 18 | 44 | 239 |
| Strength of Schedule | 40 | 3 | 74 | 262 |
| BATTING STATS | ||||
| Batting Average | .312 | .266 | .320 | .275 |
| OPS | .885 | .860 | .958 | .809 |
| Runs | 429 | 393 | 467 | 380 |
| Hits | 621 | 489 | 626 | 506 |
| Doubles | 123 | 80 | 114 | 98 |
| Triples | 13 | 1 | 14 | 15 |
| Home Runs | 60 | 100 | 108 | 45 |
| Total Bases | 950 | 871 | 1,090 | 769 |
| Slugging % | .477 | .474 | .458 | .418 |
| Walks | 222 | 301 | 250 | 260 |
| Hit By Pitch | 119 | 72 | 66 | 109 |
| Strikeouts | 461 | 589 | 432 | 416 |
| On-Base % | .408 | .386 | .415 | .391 |
| Stolen Bases | 55 | 45 | 66 | 45 |
| PITCHING STATS | ||||
| ERA | 4.94 | 4.47 | 5.43 | 7.17 |
| WHIP | 1.37 | 1.33 | 1.55 | 1.69 |
| Strikeouts | 516 | 637 | 520 | 389 |
| Walks Allowed | 242 | 185 | 250 | 276 |
| Hits | 428 | 466 | 490 | 503 |
| Opponent BA | .234 | .248 | .290 | .280 |
| HR Allowed | 68 | 75 | 72 | 54 |
| Innings Pitching | 489.2 | 491 | 491 | 459.2 |
The Host
You don’t get to host an NCAA Regional without being good and Nebraska is more than good enough to warrant its spot in the tournament.
The Cornhuskers are one of the best teams at the plate. Their .312 batting average is 12th best in the nation and ranks in the top 50 in several other categories. They don’t hit a lot of home runs. The leader is shortstop Dylan Carey with 14 and he’s the only Cornhusker in double digits.
Nebraska is solid on the mound, too. Carson Jasa has 109 strikeouts to go with a .209 opponent batting average and a 3.76 ERA. Two others (Ty Horn and Gavin Blachowicz) have ERAs under 4.00. J’shawn Unger is one of the best closers in the nation with 12 saves, tied for fifth nationally.
Notable wins include a 10-1 win against Florida State (February 22), a 9-8 win in extra innings against Auburn (February 27), won one of three against Oregon and swept USC in a conference series.
The Reason You’re Here
This is an Ole Miss site and most of you reading this already know who the Rebels are.
Great pitching with a three-pitcher rotation that’s hard to match. A great bullpen with all different types of arms. The batting lineup hits home runs, but also strikes out a lot.
At times this season it’s been a great recipe for success. Other times, though, when the bats aren’t flying and the pitching isn’t elite, it’s been a recipe for a loss.
The Dark Horse
Nobody should be surprised if the Sun Devils leave Lincoln with the regional title. As good as Nebraska is at the plate and as good as Ole Miss is at hitting home runs, Arizona State is just as good if not better.
A team batting average of .320 and a .557 slugging percentage both rank sixth best in the nation. It’s 108 home runs in 10th most and 433 total RBIs is 18th.
The wildcard here is on the mound. The Sun Devils’ don’t match what Ole Miss or Nebraska has. They do have a couple great starters to send out on the mound, which makes a team dangerous in a regional or super regional tournament.
Cole Carlon has a 3.51 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 124 strikeouts, which is tied for fifth-most in the nation. Kole Klecker has 12 starts this season and has a 1.39 WHIP and a .264 opponent batting average. There are a few other solid arms behind those two with a lot of starts and appearances.
If the pitching gets hot and the offense plays at its average, Arizona State will be a very hard out this weekend.
The One Happy to be Here
All due respect to the Jackrabbits, No. 4 seeds in NCAA Regionals don’t have much success. Last year’s Murray State is the exception and that doesn’t look like what South Dakota State is this year.
Granted it has a higher batting average and on-base percentage than Ole Miss (see table), but that might say more about the Rebels than the Jackrabbits.
South Dakota State’s biggest weakness, like it is for many mid-majors, is on the mound. A team ERA of 7.17, 1.69 WHIP and a strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.41) that ranks 237th in the nation isn’t very good.
Of course, none of that might matter if the Jackrabbits get hot and Nebraska goes cold. The upset almost happened once back in March so its stands to reason that it could actually happen this time.
