No. 17 Ole Miss put on a dominant, offensive showing Tuesday night in an avenging 19-2 victory against Murray State.
A year after the Racers came to Swayze Field and upset the Rebels in their own NCAA Regional, Ole Miss has gotten its revenge. Afterwards, coach Mike Bianco, third baseman Judd Utermark and shortstop Owen Paino talked about the game, the current state of the team and Star Wars.
Here’s everything they said.
Mike Bianco, Head Coach
On Owen Kelly…
Good. He just continues to get better. You can tell he looks freer out there throwing the ball, and I think he’s locating a lot better—especially at the bottom of the zone with the sinker. That was huge tonight. You wake up and see the score, 19–2, but it was 2–0 going into the bottom of the fourth. He gave you a bunch of zeros, and you need that a lot of times in midweek games to allow your offense to get going.
On Tim Elko hosting Judd Utermark as a recruit…
I didn’t realize that until Brad just told me. That’s really cool. They’re two really good players and two great leaders—guys that do it the right way. They’re the kind of kids you hope your own kids grow up to be like. Great teammates, great leaders, and really good baseball players.
On how team chemistry shows up on the field…
We say it a lot—I stole this quote from somebody, I’m not sure who—but you can get whatever you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want. That’s just being a good teammate. If you can get into us—our wins, our losses, our at-bats—they’re not your hits, they’re our hits. They go up on our board. If you think like that, the game becomes a lot easier. It’s hard, though. This is a game where, at the end, you’re answering questions about yourself. But in all seriousness, that’s been his path. He had a tough freshman year, handled it great, and has been a terrific teammate. His time is coming.
On Topher Jones handling starts…
Really well. He’s had some really good at-bats—he did in Knoxville on Sunday and again today. The more the merrier—and I don’t mean that jokingly. We need other pieces. It’s good to see guys stepping up. I thought Romine, even though he didn’t get a hit tonight, had some really good at-bats. He took a lot of close pitches and looked the part. Offensively, you can tell we’re getting better.
On Grayson Gibson’s injury…
He’s kind of in a holding pattern right now. He’s dealing with some inflammation in his forearm, so it’s day-to-day.
On any motivation from last year’s NCAA Regional loss to Murray State…
No. I’ve never really been motivated like that. At the end of the day, that’s not the same team in the other dugout, and half of our guys weren’t here last year. It’s a new year—you’ve got to go out and beat the team in front of you. We did that tonight.
On Star Wars…
No, not really. My kids give me a hard time about it. I’ve really only seen the original—I saw it in theaters, so yeah, I’m that old. I’ve probably fallen asleep during some of the others, and my family gets mad at me. But yeah, the original Star Wars is the one I remember—that’s about it.
Judd Utermark
On home run race with Tristan Bissetta…
I do remember saying earlier in the year that if Bissetta hit, what was it, 10 more home runs than me, then we’d be a really good team. I might’ve closed the gap a little today, but he was on pace for a while there, and I was getting pretty excited about it.
On tying Tim Elko on career home runs list…
It means a lot. He’s awesome. A little-known story—he was actually my host when I was getting recruited here, and now I’m in the same locker as him. Saying he’s my idol might be a stretch, but he’s definitely a mentor to me. Everything he’s done—not just for Ole Miss baseball, but for Oxford—he’s a really special guy. So yeah, it means a lot.
On Owen Paino…
Man, he’s awesome. I’ve got to give credit to the other guys, too, for supporting him through everything, because that’s a tough spot to be in. I’d be amazed if anyone could go through what he’s gone through and come out the other side with the success he’s having. It makes all of us really happy. And obviously, he’s a great baseball player—probably has been since the day he could walk. We’re there for him, and he’s one of the best teammates I’ve had.
On Elko…
Yeah, like I said, it means a lot. He’s been a mentor and such a big part of this program. And honestly, beyond baseball, he’s just a really good, genuine person. That’s what stands out the most. It means a lot to be mentioned alongside him.
On Owen Kelly on the mound…
What did he go—four no-hit innings? I’ve said it since day one, he’s the toughest pitcher I had to face this offseason. I think tonight he just played to his strengths. His sinker was really working. I know Joel called a couple sinkers up, which you don’t hear about much—it kind of feels counterintuitive—but he had his stuff tonight and executed really well. He looked really, really good against a solid Murray State team.
On team’s success in recent weeks…
It’s been awesome. We’re enjoying it because we’re winning, but also because we’re playing really good baseball. That makes it even more fun. And honestly, a lot of the credit goes to the pitching staff. They’ve kept us in games. Even in that Florida series, what people don’t talk about is how our pitching gave us a chance—they only allowed two runs in one of those games against a really good lineup. They’ve bought us time to get hot again, and now you’re starting to see that.
On Hayden Federico’s success…
It’s awesome. He’s such a good teammate and a leader, even as a sophomore. He’s tremendous. We all want to see him succeed every time he steps in the box. He plays a great center field, and when Coach moves him to left, he doesn’t have an ego about it—he just does his job. I’d love to see him keep it going. He’s been swinging it really well the last few weeks.
On Star Wars…
Not really, no—but that edit they put on the Jumbotron was awesome. I might have to binge-watch it now, but I’ve heard I’m in for a lot if I do.
Owen Paino
On moving from being a DH to being in the field…
It’s been great. Just getting a few innings back at shortstop and not being stuck in that DH role the last couple of weeks has helped a lot. My confidence has been up, and I’m just carrying that from the plate out to shortstop. Randall has done an amazing job, so I’m really just filling in for him. But overall, my confidence feels totally different compared to the past—this year and even last year. I’m playing with confidence and having fun. When you get to play with the kind of teammates we have, it makes it really easy.
On current hot streak…
It obviously feels great—especially putting up 19 runs against a team like this, with what happened last year. We’re just having so much fun right now. But we’re not riding the highs or getting too low when things go bad. We’re staying even and just trying to do whatever we can in the moment to help the team. We’ve got a lot of unselfish players, and it’s really showing in the results.
On if last year’s NCAA Regional was discussed…
A little bit, but not much early in the week since we were focused on Tennessee. Once that series was over, it came up some. But we came into this game knowing it’s a whole new year. Half their team isn’t the same, and same for us. So we treated it like any other game. But for the guys who were here last year, there was definitely a little chip on their shoulder—and we took it out there tonight.
On being a young leader on the team…
Ever since I was young, my dad and my coaches have taught me to be a leader, so it’s something I’ve always tried to do. It doesn’t really matter what year you are. You can have freshmen who are leaders and fifth-year seniors who are leaders. It’s about your actions. I try to be the same every day so others can see that and follow it. When you have a team full of great teammates like this, it’s really hard to beat. We’re really close. We’re always hanging out in the locker room, and it just makes everything a lot more fun.
