That certainly wasn’t the weekend anyone in Oxford was hoping for.
The Rebels got swept on their home field by their biggest rival Mississippi State with the final nail being driven into the coffin in a 7-1 loss to Mississippi State. Afterwards, Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco and first baseman Will Furniss spoke with reporters about the game and where the Rebels go after a disappointing weekend.
Here’s everything they said.
Mike Bianco, Head Coach
On weekend thoughts…
“I told the team this was obviously a disappointing weekend. We didn’t play well enough to win, and they played well on the other side. Losing stinks, but when you don’t play well at home against your archrival, that’s really disappointing. You should be embarrassed. Be miserable tonight, be embarrassed tonight, and then show up tomorrow ready to get better. The good and bad of the SEC is everybody loses. Everybody has tough weekends, and you’ve got to be able to handle the league. Unfortunately, this was a bad weekend for us. Now we’ve got to bounce back with a really good practice and get ready to play better on Tuesday.”
On team energy and body language…
“You can get caught up in body language, and I get it. When you don’t score runs, it becomes a quiet stadium. But it’s not because guys aren’t trying. If you’ve watched this game long enough, you know these kids want to win. I don’t know if I’d say guys are trying too hard, but sometimes that means you’re putting too much pressure on yourself. This is SEC play. You’ve got to be able to handle that. When it looks off, it’s not about effort — it’s because we’re not playing well enough. We gave up seven runs today and got out-homered 4-0. There’s plenty to go around.”
On Cade Townsend…
“The good news is he looked healthy and he looked good. Early on, I thought he was overthrowing a bit and fell behind two really good hitters, which led to a double and a home run. After that, he really locked in and looked terrific. Then there was the review play where he missed the base, and after that, he looked different. The game sped up on him. He got frustrated, let the emotions take over, and you saw it. A guy who had been filling up the strike zone suddenly started missing, and that cost him a couple more runs. That’s disappointing. But overall, the best takeaway is that he looks like he’s back and ready to go.”
On responding to adversity…
“Leadership is something everyone talks about — in the fall, before you play games. But you find out who you are in moments like this. This is when you see leadership — from players, coaches, everyone in that dugout. Like I told them, you should be miserable. This is embarrassing and not acceptable. But you’ve got to get over it and be ready to play baseball again.”
On getting offense back on track…
“There’s no magic answer. You keep working. Some of it is individual — working with guys who are struggling and making adjustments. From a team standpoint, the game can turn quickly, but you’ll miss that opportunity if you stop fighting. The challenge is to hold each other accountable and play with the toughness and confidence we had a week ago.”
Will Furniss, 1B
On recent struggles…
“It’s been a tough week, but we’ve just got to bear down on the little things. We had seven hits today, and not one came with a runner in scoring position. That’s been the issue — it’s not just one guy, it’s everybody. I think we had the bases loaded four times and didn’t score. That’s just not good enough. But the good thing is, this team is good enough to fix it.”
On experience on team…
“We’ve got guys in the locker room who have been through it. My freshman and sophomore years, we struggled. My sophomore year, I think we were better than our record showed, but we didn’t have the experience to navigate it. This year, I think we’re a better team than what we’ve shown so far. I really believe we can be a good team. We’ve just got to figure it out, stick with it, and be tough.”
On next game…
“We’ve got to come out Tuesday ready to go. It’s an early game, so we can’t be lackadaisical. Show up ready to play and carry that momentum into the weekend.”
On staying positive…
“Yeah, it can definitely be contagious when things are going bad, just like when things are going good. But with an older team, we’ve got to be better at handling that. We’ve got to learn how to respond and almost do the opposite — kind of fake it till you make it. It sounds cliché, but body language matters.”
On what it’ll take to turn things around…
“It’s tough when things aren’t going well because everyone wants to be the one to come through and get the big hit. At the end of the day, it’s going to take one game. We’ve just got to tough it out, execute with runners in scoring position, and do the small things right. Once that happens, I think we’ll get back on track.”
