Ole Miss baseball just got a whole lot better.
Last season’s starting first baseman Will Furniss and all-time home run leader Judd Utermark announced Wednesday that he will return to Ole Miss for the 2027 season.
Furniss and Utermark gained an extra year of eligibility after Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S. District Court in Colorado granted a class‑wide preliminary injunction requiring the NCAA to recognize a fifth year of eligibility for athletes who began competing during the 2022‑23 academic year and exhausted four seasons this spring.
— Will Furniss (@WillFurniss) August 19, 2026
That ruling included Furniss and Utermark. Both of them announced their returns on Wednesday.
Hotty Toddy pic.twitter.com/rtzxDIoUjK
— Judd Utermark (@JuddUtermark) August 19, 2026
What this means for Ole Miss
Ole Miss is getting back two of its best players from last season’s CWS team. Utermark and Furniss both started all 64 games last season at third base and first base.
Utermark set a new career home runs record (51) while leading the Rebels in batting average (.309), runs scored (72), slugging percentage (.630) and was second in home runs (22) and RBIs (55). He also had the second-most strikeouts (85).
Furniss finished second on the team in batting average (.306), RBI (57) and hits (71). He added nine home runs and 12 doubles. Across four seasons in Oxford, Furniss has hit .290 with 31 doubles, 33 home runs and 150 RBI, along with a .983 career fielding percentage.
In short, the Rebels are getting back a pair of productive, experienced hitters. That experience matters and Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco has spoken about how older teams seem to win more.
“Older teams seem to have success,” Bianco said in June at the College World Series media day. “They’re more mature, to the earlier question of handling the tough moments. And so, you look up again, and you’ve got veterans like Will (Furniss) and Hunter (Elliott).
“When you’re old, you’ve been through the adversity. You’ve been punched in the mouth, and hopefully you’ve been able to get back up and continue to fight and have success.”
What the lineup could look like
Ole Miss was aggressive in the transfer portal, signing five fielders, including ones who looked like direct replacements for Furniss and Utermark.
Former Louisiana Tech first baseman Trey Hawsey was immediately penciled in as the starter at first. He earned that assumption. Hawsey slashed .329/.584/.412 last season with a .996 OPS, 15 home runs and 47 RBI, and he posted a .988 fielding percentage with only five errors.
Jason Fultz Jr. also appeared to be the next starting third baseman for Ole Miss after starting 34 games at the hot corner for Ole Miss. He posted just a .231 batting average in only 108 at-bats and one home run. Fultz wasn’t going to be expected to replace the home run power of Utermark, but he brings enough skills to be in the mix for a starting job.
Now, the question is what does Mike Bianco do with the infield.
Dom Decker, another Rebel who started all 64 games last season, will be back at second base. Owen Paino won the starting job at shortstop towards the end of last season and will be back. Do Furniss and Utermark automatically return to their starting jobs at first and third base?
If so, what do you do with Hawsey and Fultz?
Hawsey would seem to be a candidate to be the designated hitter. Utermark and Furniss could also possibly be in the DH spot. Utermark also has the athleticism to, potentially, play another position like short stop or in the outfield. But that would, potentially, displace another transfer portal addition in either Caleb Koskie or Blake Fields.
It’s a fascinating question to think about and Bianco would likely classify this as a good problem to have.
Here’s how I see the starting lineup possibly looking:
- C: Brady Dallimore
- 1B: Will Furniss
- 2B: Dom Decker
- SS: Owen Paino
- 3B: Judd Utermark
- LF: Blake Fields
- CF: Hayden Federico
- RF: Caleb Koskie
- DH: Trey Hawsey
Or maybe Bianco has a completely different plan in mind. Maybe it’ll be more of a rotational lineup where Utermark and Fultz trade days at third base, DH or any other number of possibilities.
Either way, the Rebels got significantly better with Furniss and Utermark announcing their returns.
