Ole Miss is headed to the College World Series for the first time since 2022 when the Rebels had their championship dogpile.
The Rebels are scheduled to face North Carolina in a first round game at 6 p.m. Friday. They’ll make the trek to Omaha, Nebraska on Wednesday before holding a practice at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Ole Miss held media availability sessions with Hayden Federico, Tristan Bissetta, JP Robertson and coach Mike Bianco. The four Rebels talked about a wide range of topics from North Carolina’s strengths, to game-saving catches against Auburn, to bat flips to Mafia, a popular social game played amongst the Ole Miss players.
Here’s everything Bianco said and, no, he didn’t announce a starting pitcher for Friday’s game against the Tar Heels.
Mike Bianco, Head Coach
On team playing Mafia…
That might be our recruiting thing now: “Hey, man, we’re big Mafia guys.” No, I really didn’t know it was a thing. I knew it was a thing on our team, but I didn’t know other teams did it. It’s incredible. I didn’t know. It’s funny, and I can’t figure it out. Not that I try to learn, but you just watch it. They’ll be playing for a while, and it’ll be kind of quiet. Then there are some games where it is the most emotional thing ever. Guys are yelling and cussing at each other and going crazy. It’s like a home run.
On Cade Townsend ready after not pitching vs. Auburn…
He was just throwing a live BP out there. That’s one of the things, to make sure in between these things that everybody is ready to go. He was actually up on Saturday. He was in the pen getting hot. Joel and I had talked about it, that if you had a chance to win, you would be all in to go. Not that you didn’t have confidence in Walker, but you just don’t know. Obviously, Walker got through it, and it was a terrific play by Judd to finish it. Because Cade got hot, we wanted him to throw to hitters today, but wanted to give him a couple days to do that and be ready. Other guys are throwing lives right now, too. It’s just to keep guys who haven’t thrown — not just a bullpen, but to be competitive on the mound, hearing the PitchComs, throwing the pitches. Joel is putting them in different situations out there.
On North Carolina…
Without getting so into it, they’re good. You knew they had a great year. This is not to sound like coach speak, but it’s true. You focus on your team, too. You focus on your next opponent. I knew Auburn was good, but you don’t really watch them. This is similar, where you hear a lot about them throughout the year. I think they lost the first weekend to Virginia and then ran through that league, and they’ve got some really good teams in that league. They’ve had a tremendous year. When you look at them statistically, they do everything. They hit. They’ve got some power. They steal bases. They certainly pitch at a high level. They have multiple guys who maybe, similar to us, they probably feel super comfortable starting.
On announcing a starting pitcher for first CWS game…
We haven’t gotten to that yet.
On personal meaning of making it back to Omaha…
It’s hard to answer the personal question. Obviously, I’m proud, but I don’t ever look at it that way because it’s not about me. I’m proud of these guys and all the things that you’ve seen. There’s so much the last couple weeks where people have talked about the team and how cool it is, how close they are. You hear bits and pieces of their interviews with you guys, and it’s amazing how often they go back to their teammates and how much they love playing with one another and being with one another. To me, that’s cool. As coaches, when you talk about culture and all those different things, those things matter. Homers and the last inning matter, but it’s hard to get to those points without collectively, throughout the year, pulling for one another and caring for one another. When your team does that, it makes you feel good as a coach.
On Tristan Bissetta’s bat flips…
I don’t rate bat flips. I’ve always thought when you do it like him — not that you hit it, walk 10 feet and flip it up in the air. Those things, that’s not very impressive. I’m not a big fan of that. But when you flip it where it looks like you haven’t even finished your swing yet and you know it before the ball has left the infield, that’s impressive to me. Not so much the coolness of the flip, but how you can hit a ball and know it’s out before it even leaves the infield. I played the game. I could never do that. I’d never be that guy. Or I’d be like a couple of our guys and start walking, and it didn’t get out.
On Tristan Bissetta’s impact on this team…
The numbers speak for themselves, obviously. To hit whatever it is, 23 home runs, to be one shy of the record and all of that. But it’s bigger than that, and I think you guys know that. What a neat kid he is. What a great teammate. I’ve said this before, that it’s a great feeling, and part of the reason you have this camaraderie and teamship is the transfers who do get here. He’s not the first and not the only one on this team, but to buy into what we’re doing — offensively, what we do as a team — that makes a difference. He’s a guy who played in a really good program, came here and immersed himself into the team. That makes a difference. He came in here and wanted to be a part of it. Of course, he’s respected as a baseball player. But when you act like that, it makes a difference in the clubhouse and in the dugout.
On “don’t just enjoy being there” mindset from 2022 repeating in 2026…
Yeah, certainly. I think that’s a big deal. It was neat that Judd, when he broke it down at Auburn holding the trophy, said that. He said, “We’re not just going there.” I think there’s a video that our guys put out where you can see him. That was the last thing they said before they went and were with their families and the fans and all of that. You go there to win.
