More on the Oxford Regional

The Clarion Ledger did a pretty good job of breaking down the teams and hitting the high points for the Oxford Regional so I have pasted it below.

On another note several media sources are reporting that Cullan Kight will get a chance to play for the Rebs this weekend. Kight has traveled with the Rebs since mid way through SEC play and has seen minimal playing time. Kight was called upon in the SEC Tournament to pinch hit and drilled one that was about 2 feet or so from going out of the park to continue the Rebs rally in the top of the tenth, but we all know that story. Kight is evidently known for his bat in practice, but has had little opportunity to showcase it in a real game. It should be interesting to see if Bianco gives Kight a chance this weekend.

(Clarion Ledger)
OLE MISS
Seed: No. 1 (37-23 overall, 16-14 SEC)
Coach: Mike Bianco
Top hitters: Jordan Henry (.365, 54 runs, 14 RBIs); Justin Henry (.378, 8 3Bs, 35 RBIs); Zach Miller (.370, 3 HRs, 26 RBIs)

Top pitchers: Will Kline (6-2, 3.68 ERA); Lance Lynn (7-4, 2.77 ERA)

The skinny: Ole Miss' late-game struggles were highlighted in the second SEC Tournament loss to Vanderbilt. Relief pitching, timely hitting remain question marks, but the Rebels boast plenty of NCAA Regional experience.

SOUTHERN MISS
Seed: No. 2 (38-21 overall, 14-10 Conference USA)
Coach: Corky Palmer
Top hitters: Trey Sutton (.368, 18 2Bs, 69 runs); Jody Blount (.326, 33 RBIs, 6 HRs); Brian Dozier (.335, 14 2Bs, 53 runs)

Top pitchers: Ryan Belanger (7-4, 2.63 ERA); Barry Bowden (7-3, 3.12 ERA); David Clark (8-5, 4.69 ERA)

The skinny: Timely hitting disappeared in back-to-back losses that knocked the Golden Eagles from the C-USA Tournament. If the bats come back, USM has enough pitching to threaten. Sutton's return from a knee injury certainly wouldn't hurt the Eagles' chances.

TROY
Seed: No. 3 (34-25 overall, 16-14 Sun Belt)
Coach: Bobby Pierce
Top hitters: Kevin Weidlich (.362, 13 2Bs, 11 HRs, 55 RBIs); Clint Robinson (.359, 18 2Bs, 17 HRs, 69 RBIs); Edgar Ramirez (.338, 16 2Bs, 11 HRs, 44 RBIs)

Top pitchers: Josh Dew (7-2, 2.56 ERA, 10 saves); Craig Snipes (6-5, 5.18 ERA); Joe Hallahan (5-6, 5.66 ERA)

The skinny: The Trojans surprised some by making the field, but a strong schedule and solid RPI earned them a spot. As usual, Troy can swing the bats (.304 team average), and a team 5.78 ERA means it will have to for it to advance.

SAM HOUSTON STATE
Seed: No. 4 (38-22 overall, 18-12 Southland)
Coach: Mark Johnson
Top hitters: Bobby Verbick (.373, 22 2Bs, 13 HRs, 75 RBIs); Karl Krailo (.357, 15 2Bs, 45 RBIs); Keith Stein (.297, 12 2Bs, 48 runs)

Top pitchers: Luke Prihoda (6-3, 1.21 ERA, 17 saves); Jacob Howard (11-5, 2.74 ERA); Jesse Marshall (8-3, 3.58 ERA)

The skinny: The Bearkats are making their first trip to the NCAAs since 1996 after going 4-0 to win the Southland Conference Tournament and earn an automatic berth. Prihoda, who had a win and two saves in the tourney, was the Southland's pitcher of the year.

Orgeron Lands A Transfer

(SID) OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron announced Tuesday the signing of former UCLA Bruin Jeremy McGee to a football scholarship. McGee is currently completing his coursework at UCLA and is scheduled to enroll at Ole Miss in July.

"We are excited to have Jeremy McGee joining our program," said Orgeron, who is entering his third season at the helm of the Rebel program. "Transfers like BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Jevan Snead help our program. He is from Louisiana, a state where we have recruited well. We welcome Jeremy and his family to our Ole Miss family."

Due to NCAA transfer rules, McGee, who played as a true freshman for UCLA this past season, must sit out the 2007 campaign at Ole Miss, but will still have three years of eligibility remaining, beginning with the 2008 season.

Rebs Set to Host for Fourth Straight Time

Here is the press release. I will try and provide a break down of the teams later this week.

OXFORD, Miss. – For the fourth-straight season the 19th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels will play host to post-season action as one of 16 sites selected to host an NCAA Regional. Coming to compete alongside the Rebels in the first round of action will be Sam Houston State, Southern Miss and Troy.

Ole Miss is one of only two teams in the nation to have hosted NCAA Regional action each of the last four seasons, joining Texas in the distinction.

Troy and Southern Miss will face off in the first game of the day with a 3 p.m. first pitch on Friday. Ole Miss and Sam Houston State will take the field in the second game of the day with a 7 p.m. first pitch.

“We’re excited to be hosting a Regional for the fourth-straight season,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “It says a lot about where we are as a program and where we want to be that we are one of only two teams to host a regional for each of the last four seasons. We are excited to be bringing post-season baseball back to Oxford and looking forward to playing in front of our fans again.”

Thoughts on Selection

The pairings were announced yesterday for the NCAA tournament field and once again the SEC was looked over. Why this happened in basketball and yet again in baseball is beyond me. SEC baseball is the best in the country and the people that have an argument to that don't know what they are talking about. Why the State of California is allowed to have something like 9 teams in the tournament, yet the SEC only has 5 teams in the tournament is ridiculous.

While granted some of their records are not as good as years past when the SEC got as many as 9 teams in the tourney, the RPI's and strength of schedule should speak for themselves. This week as the athletic directors and university president's get together in Destin, they should really discuss this. I don't know if the SEC office is not flexing their muscle enough or what, but something needs to change.

To top things off, Larry Templeton was the head of the selection committee. And when Templeton was asked why the SEC only had 5 teams in, he began to mention Auburn. Auburn?? Are you kidding me? This team finished dead last in the SEC and that is the team Templeton discussed about not making the tournament. Forget the other six teams above them Larry? I still can not get over the fact he mentioned Auburn. Do any of you State fans have any thoughts on Larry's comments or anyone else?

ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT I HAVE SEEN IT ALL.

Rebs Advance With Win Over Vols

Birmingham- In from the game a little bit earlier tonight than last night. But it was well worth it at as the Rebels defeated UT tonight 6-3. The Rebels came out hot and put five runs on the board in the first inning. From there on out there was not much to it, but holding off the UT offense. Lance Lynn pitched an up and down game for the Rebs and struggled a little bit.

Lance fought the tough strike zone of the umpire all night. A zone that eventually got Mike Bianco ejected but not before a loud applause by Rebel fans. Cody Satterwhite came into finish the game and pitched a great last two innings.

The only runs put on the board by the Vols was a three run homer by Delmonico. They threatened a couple of more times but the Rebel defense kept them from scoring.

This game was up and down for the Rebs. They came out hot but cooled down for a little while during the game. But a win is a win and I will take it anyway we can get them.

They now have the day off and wiL have to wait and see who they play on Saturday, as UT and Vandy square off tomorrow night.

Rebs Beat Dogs In Close Game

Birmingham-Just in from the game. It was a great of a game as I predicted. Ole Miss got on the scoreboard early and managed to hold on to its lead as they defeated the Bulldogs 3-1 tonight at Regions park. Ole Miss was reliant all night on pitcher Will Kline who through an outstanding complete game which included yet another double digit strikeout night. It was probably one of Will's best outings as a Rebel.

With that win, the Rebels stay in the win column and will face UT who upset Vandy tonight in the evening game.Vandy did not throw their ace pitcher in Price and they paid for it. With the loss State will play Vandy and have to face Price now.

Crazier things have happened but the win tonight should solidify Ole Miss hosting a regional.

All in all it was a great game and hopefully the Rebs can continue on this path.

Projections

Let me know your projections on who will win the tournament. I am going with Vandy. They are just a really good team and have been all year. I was leaning towards Alabama with how hot they have been lately, but now I see the way the Hogs are treating them, so I will stick with the Dores.

Who do you like?

Should Be A Good One

It should be a good one tonight from Regions Park. Below are the projected pitchers for tonight. The game will be on CSS for those that get the channel. I on the other hand will be in attendance tonight along with several other long time readers including Sparky, Sterling, POGO, Samuels and several others that read and contribute on a day to day basis. No word yet from the Bulldog nation and who will be in attendance from that tribe.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS:
THURSDAY, 7:05 P.M.
MSU - Justin Pigott (So., LHP, 5-5, 88.1 IP, 4.69 ERA)
OM - Will Kline (Jr., RHP, 5-2, 101.0 IP, 3.92 ERA)
NOTING KLINE: Kline tied a career-high in his last outing, striking out 13 batters in 6.0 innings at Arkansas on Thursday. The 13 strikeouts moved him to 113 on the season, fourth on the single-season list. Kline took no decision in the outing, his eighth of the season.

Baseball Rebs Get Honors

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss earned seven spots on the All-SEC teams selected by the league’s coaches while outfielder Jordan Henry was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, the league office announced on Monday.

It is the third Freshman of the Year selection for a player under head coach Mike Bianco as Henry joins Seth Smith (2002) and All-American Stephen Head (2003) in earning the honor.

Shortstop Zack Cozart earned First Team All-SEC honors, while Henry joined sophomore right-hander’s Lance Lynn and Cody Satterwhite on the All-SEC Second Team. Lynn was named as a starting pitcher, while Satterwhite earned a spot as a relief pitcher.

Henry was also named to the All-Freshman team along with second baseman Zach Miller and left-handed pitcher Nathan Baker.

New Collegiate Baseball Poll

1. Vanderbilt (46-10)
2. Rice (45-11)
3. Florida St. (46-9)
4. North Carolina (45-11)
5. Virginia (41-13)
6. San Diego (41-15)
7. Texas (42-14)
8. Arizona St. (41-12)
9. Arkansas (38-18)
10. South Carolina (40-16)
11. Arizona (39-13)
12. Wichita St. (46-17)
13. U.C. Riverside (36-17)
14. Missouri (39-14)
15. Clemson (36-20)
16. Long Beach St. (35-17)
17. U.C. Irvine (38-14-1)
18. Coastal Carolina (44-11)
19. Mississippi St. (33-18)
20. Mississippi (35-21)
21. Oklahoma St. (38-16)
22. La.-Lafayette (40-14)
23. Texas A&M (41-15)
24. Texas Christian (43-12)
25. Miami, Fla. (35-20)
26. UCLA (29-24)
27. N.C. State (36-19)
28. Oregon St. (36-16)
29. Pepperdine (35-20)
30. St. John's (39-15)

Easley Named Ferriss Winner

As we all predicted.

(Clarion Ledger)
CLEVELAND — Catcher Ed Easley became the second Mississippi State player in as many years to win the Cellular South Ferriss Trophy tonight, beating out Ole Miss shortstop Zack Cozart and Belhaven College infielder/pitcher Thomas Royals for the award as Mississippi’s top baseball player in 2007.
Easley follows in the footsteps of former Bulldog Thomas Berkery, who won the award last year.
Easley is MSU’s second-leading hitter with a .377 average. He leads the Bulldogs in home runs (12) and RBIs (59), and leads the Southeastern Conference in throwing out would-be base-stealers, gunning down 26 of 46 runners who have attempted to steal.

Buck Named Pitcher of the Week

(SEC Office)
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Brett Bukvich
Ole Miss Sophomore LHP
Jackson, Miss.

Pitched the Rebels to a series clinching win in the season finale at #9 Arkansas as he worked 7.0 innings and allowed only two hits in a combined shutout of the Razorbacks. Worked the Rebels out of four jams as he stranded four Arkansas batters at third base to preserve the Ole Miss shutout. It was the seoncd combined shutout Bukvich was involved with in SEC play.

With the win, the Rebels have now posted four-straight series wins over Arkansas dating back to the 2004 season.The win also moved the Rebels to 14-9 against ranked foes this season, the best record against the top25 in the SEC and was the sixth series win over a ranked opponent out of seven series against ranked foes.

Rebs Have Good Weekend in Arkansas

The Rebs ended the regular season with a good weekend performance as they won the series on the road at Arkansas. Aside from yet another late inning disaster which resulted in a one run loss on Friday night, the Rebels played well. I did not get to hear much of the game on Friday or Saturday so I do not know many details about the games. But from what I hear the Friday disaster was incredible.

With the regular season over we now move to the SEC Tournament which will be held this week in Birmingham. Ole Miss will be the number 5 seed and will face the A&M Bulldogs who will be the number 4 seed in the tournament. The SEC Tournament is always a good event. It is the best college baseball in America for five days, so needless to say it is a real tough tournament to win. The key is to win Wednesday and Thursday where your team can have Friday off and avoid the losers bracket.

More on the tournament in the days to come.


FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ole Miss (35-21, 16-14 SEC) closed out the regular season on a high note as the 21st-ranked Rebels pitched a 5-0 shutout of ninth-ranked Arkansas (38-18, 18-12 SEC) to pick up the series victory heading into Southeastern Conference Tournament play.

The Rebels held Arkansas to four hits on the afternoon as Brett Bukvich (7-2) picked up the win. Bukvich worked 7.0 innings, allowing two hits with five walks and five strikeouts.

Duke Welker (5-5) took the loss for the Razorbacks as he allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work.

Zack Cozart and Justin Henry led the Rebel offense as both players went 2-for-4 at the plate, while Jordan Henry crossed the plate twice for the Rebels from the lead-off spot to carry his streak of reaching base safely to 45 consecutive games. He ended the season hitting safely in 26 SEC games this season, including an 18 game hitting streak in conference play.

“This team has been good about responding this season,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “Brett gave us the kind of performance we needed on the mound today against an Arkansas club that swings the bat well and puts up runs. The few situations where he got into jams, he was able to make the pitches and get out of them.”

FINALLY!!

Well the Rebels finally won a one run game in which they had the lead going into the last inning, as Ole Miss defeated Arkansas tonight 5-4. It was a very good game, one that would make any fan nervous. Will Kline and Nick Schmidt both pitched good games. But it was Kline's 13 strikeouts that played a huge factor in the win for the Rebels.

It was an up and down game for both teams. The inning that gave the Rebels the boost was the 5th in which both Cody Overbeck and Logan Powered homered. This definitely provided a spark for the team that could not connect for the first four innings.

I have to admit, I was not convinced we could pull this one out, especially in the ninth when Satterwhite had two runners with only one out. Satterwhite was another player that played a big role in continuing the dominance that Kline had on the mound.

As I stated, Arkansas is a very good team and this was an excellent game. If we have two more games like this one, I will probably rip my hair out. With this win, it locks up a spot in the SEC Tournament. If it was played today the Rebs and Dogs would meet in the five/four matchup. But that will more than likely change over the next two days.

In the post game interview, Bianco was still unsure who would pitch tomorrow. As I discussed with several fans after the game, I feel like the Rebels should go with Lance Lynn. This would give Lance plenty of recovery time for the SEC Tourney, which will be a short week to prepare for. This will also allow the Rebels to pitch their better pitcher in a game in which they could win the series in. As we went into the series, I said we would make a decision after tonight on who to pitch on Friday. I have made mine. Anyone agree or disagree.

Should be another good one tomorrow night.

Rebs Let Close One Get Away

ATHENS, Ga. -- In a battle between two heavyweights in college tennis, seventh-seeded Ole Miss lost a nail-biter (4-3) to 10th-seeded Illinois Thursday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Illinois (21-8) advances to the quarterfinal round to face Ohio State, while Ole Miss ends its season at 24-5.
With the match all square it came down to a battle between two of the top players in the nation. On court one, Illinois’ Kevin Anderson, ranked No. 5 and Ole Miss’ Erling Tveit, ranked No. 13 went three sets to decide the winner. Tveit won a first set tiebreaker, 7-6(5) on an ace.
Anderson answered in the second set, winning the tiebreaker, 7-2 to pull even. In the deciding frame, Tveit was down 15-40 in the fifth game and came back to hold serve. At 3-3, he got down again, this time 0-40. He won three straight points to even it back up before Anderson won the next two points for a 4-3 lead. That was all the 6-7 junior needed to go on and win 6-3 and clinch his team’s victory.
“That was a great college match,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. “It went down to the very last match and the very last set between two of the best players in college tennis. We started the match off great taking the doubles point. We were looking at being able to take these guys at four, five and six. We got them at four, we got them at six and five was close. The difference in the last match was that Kevin served better than Erling in the last set.”

Rebels Head West For Most Important Weekend

The Ole Miss baseball team travels to Fayettville this weekend having lost the last two series in a row. The #21 Rebels will face the #6 Arkansas Razorbacks in a rare Thursday through Sunday series. It is an important weekend for both schools.

For Arkansas, the Razorbacks need to win at least one game in order to wrap up the Western Division championship. For Ole Miss, they need to win in order to keep a good standing to get into the SEC Tournament and also need a win in order to improve their chance of hosting a regional in the NCAA Tourney. Both of these schools have battled around the top of the SEC standings the past two or three years. And we all are familiar with their top players and infamous catcher.

These two teams met earlier in the year in a tournament in Minnesota. The Rebels came out on top of that game, but it will be extremely hard for the Rebels to do that in Fayettville. The Razorbacks have one of if not the large stadiums in the SEC and their fans are strong supporters of their baseball program, so needless to say, it is a tough place to play.

My prediction is that the Rebels win one game this weekend, and it will be whatever game Lance Lynn pitches. All these wackos that think we can pull off a sweep are nuts. Arkansas is a very talented team and we will be extremely lucky to leave Fayettville with one win.

For those of you that do not remember last years series, I will leave you with a YouTube link that any fan of sports will enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26axJdDKYWw

(SID) THURSDAY, 7:05 P.M.
UA - Nick Schmidt (Jr., LHP, 9-2, 100.2 IP, 2.95 ERA)
OM - Will Kline (Jr., RHP, 5-2, 95.0 IP, 3.79 ERA)
NOTING KLINE: Kline dropped only his second game of the season on Friday against Kentucky. The junior struck out four batters to hit the 100 mark for the season and move into a tie for 9th in the single season strikeout list. Kline has struck out 100 batters and walked only 30 on the season. He is only the 10th pitcher to hit the 100 strikeout mark in Ole Miss history and joins Lance Lynn in hitting the 100 strikeout mark this season. Kline has posted seven no decisions in his 14 starts, leaving the game with the Rebels leading or tied in each of the no decision games.

FRIDAY, 7:05 P.M.
UA - Jess Todd (Jr., RHP, 8-2, 73.1 IP, 2.95 ERA)
OM - TBA

SATURDAY, 2:05 P.M.
UA - Duke Welker (Jr., RHP, 5-4, 79.2 IP, 3.84 ERA)
OM - TBA

Bianco Changing Things Up

(Eagle) Kline (5-2, 3.79 ERA) is scheduled to start Thursday’s game against Arkansas, but Friday’s and Saturday’s starters have yet to be announced. Sophomore right-hander Lance Lynn (6-4, 2.80) will either start Friday at 7:05 p.m. or stay on his normal day and start Saturday at 2:05 p.m.



The above was published in the Oxford Eagle today as well as several other internet sites. It appears Bianco is trying to do anything he can to get this team back on its winning streak. If he decides to change the rotation, I have no problem with it. I think it should all depend on how the Thursday night game goes. Some of you true baseball players will know this better than I, but can Bianco make this type decision and give that short notice to a pitcher to get ready. Or will it affect the pitchers to much in the way they prepare? Interesting the article does not mention Nathan Baker who has started the past month or so on the mound on Sunday. Thoughts??

New Collegiate Baseball Poll

1. Vanderbilt (43-10)
2. Rice (41-11)
3. Florida St. (43-9)
4. North Carolina (41-11)
5. Virginia (39-12)
6. San Diego (41-15)
7. Texas (39-14)
8. Arizona St. (37-12)
9. Arkansas (37-16)
10. South Carolina (38-15)
11. Long Beach St. (34-14)
12. UCLA (28-22)
13. Arizona (36-12)
14. Wichita St. (43-16)
15. Clemson (34-18)
16. U.C. Riverside (33-17)
17. Missouri (35-14)
18. Oklahoma St. (37-13)
19. Oregon St. (36-13)
20. Mississippi St. (32-16)
21. Mississippi (33-20)
22. Texas A&M (40-12)
23. U.C. Irvine (34-14-1)
24. Cal. St. Fullerton (31-19)
25. Texas Christian (40-11)
26. Stetson (38-14)
27. Coastal Carolina (41-10)
28. Pepperdine (32-19)
29. Georgia Tech. (31-20)
30. St. John's (36-14)

Rebs Head to NCAA Tourney

The staff at Worldclassglass would like to wish the Ole Miss golf team luck as they head off to the NCAA Tourney this week. Long time reader of Worldclassglass and Senior on the Ole Miss golf team,Brice Bailey will be making the trip. It has been several years since the men's golf team has made it to the NCAA Tournament and we are glad to see they are back.

Below is some information from UMAA about the tournament and an interview with Brice.

(UMAA)OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men's golf team ended a five-year postseason drought Monday, receiving its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2001. The Rebels are the No. 12 seed among 27 teams in the East Regional, which will be held at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta, Ga., May 17-19.

“We are excited to be back in the NCAA Championships,” head coach Ernest Ross said. “Two years ago we were the best ranked team not to get in, and last year we were the second best team not to make it. We’ve been heartbroken the last two years. It’s been our goal and the team’s motivation this year to play good enough that we wouldn’t be on the bubble.

“Without a doubt, our regional is the toughest one of the three. The first 11 seeds read like a who’s who in college golf. Most of the teams have played this course at tournaments over the last couple years, so they may have an advantage over us. But we have to start with some upsets somewhere, so we’ll just jump right in.”



Senior Brice Bailey

“It’s such a relief to know we are going, especially after we came so close the last two years. For me personally, it’s a lot of relief, because I played so bad in the SEC Tournament. I get another chance. I look at it as a big opportunity for me personally as well as the team.”

On the break since the last tournament and preparing for the next round
“We’ve had a little break and basically just been fine-tuning our games. You can’t make a whole lot of changes. I’ve been going at it hard the last couple of weeks trying to work on my game, to improve.”

On what’s he doing to improve his game
“I spent four hours with my teacher yesterday working on making it simple again and just having fun. Sometimes you can make golf too hard that you can get yourself in a lot of trouble before you know it. I enjoy my teammates, and I love playing golf. This is what I want to do for a living.”

On handling pressure
“If you put too much pressure on yourself, it can work against you. We all know how big a deal it is. We don’t have to talk about it. As a team, I don’t think all five of us have played well together yet. If we do that, we can go really deep in the championships. Obviously the timing has to be right. I am sure there a lot of teams in the country who can say that. In terms of talent, we have all the talent we need to go as far as we want to.”

On the difference in this year compared to last two years
“We are much deeper from one to five. We were top-heavy the last couple of years. Jordan Dempsey was a great player, but he didn’t have a whole lot of help. The coaches have done a great job with us this year. Jonathan has been a big help. He was a year removed from being in the same shoes we are. Whenever we have a problem, we can go and talk to him, because he’s been there and done that.”

Rebels Back in the Sweet Sixteen

It really is impressive just how good of a team Coach Chadwick puts together every single year. Illinois will be a tough match for the Rebs who travel to Athens for the Sweet 16, but this team has the experience to beat the Fighting Illini.

(SID) OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss men's tennis team punched its ticket to the "Sweet Sixteen" here Saturday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center with a 4-1 win over South Alabama in the second round of the NCAA Championships. The Rebels, seeded No. 7, will face the No. 10 seed, Illinois, who edged Michigan 4-2 to advance.
The Rebels and Illini will square off Thursday, May 17 at 11 a.m. CT, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

This marks the 12th time for the Rebels (24-4) to advance to the round of 16 and the third year in a row. With the win, the Rebels have now defeated South Alabama (21-5) twice in the NCAA second round, also posting a 4-0 win over the Jaguars in 1999.

“I would like to say how proud I am of the entire aspect of our tennis program, from the fans, to how hard the guys prepared and played,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. “They played really well. That was a very talented South Alabama team. We had to work hard to come away with a victory.”

Ole Miss, who finished the year undefeated (14-0) at home, dominated the doubles to take the early 1-0 lead. The Rebels are now 20-0 this season when they win the doubles point and 100-4 since 2002.

Armour to Rejoin Team

You do not see this happen too often in my opinion. Coach Ed Orgeron has allowed LaMark Armour to rejoin the team following a year in which he was suspended for most of the season. To my knowledge he is the only one of a handful of players that was suspended to be allowed back on the team. If Orgeron has allowed him back, he obviously paid his dues both in the classroom and in off the field workouts.

OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss head football coach Ed Orgeron announced Monday that sophomore defensive lineman LaMark Armour will be rejoining the Rebel football program.

Armour, a 6-2, 255-pounder from Nashville, Tenn., was “indefinitely” suspended by Orgeron last September for “violation of team rules.”

“We are going to reinstate LaMark Armour as a member of our football team,” Orgeron said.

Armour, who appeared in two games as a true freshman in 2005, did not see any action last season prior to his suspension and was redshirted. He will still have three years of eligibility remaining

Another Dissapointment

It was yet another disappointment this weekend for the Ole Miss baseball team. The Rebs lost the series to Kentucky, their first home SEC series loss since opening SEC weekend ball last year. The only good thing about the weekend, was the way the Rebels rebounded from the rain delay on yesterday to come back and win 9-2. I really thought this comeback was going to set this team into motion and we would carry the momentum over into Sunday. Boy was I wrong.

Bianco's team did the exact opposite on Sunday and played pathetic. I will say this is the first time in my memory I left a baseball game early because I was so fed up with the way our team was playing. While, they did make a small comeback, they still lost 9-7. There were dropped balls, balls through legs, and bad at bats. It was without a doubt the worst day I have witnessed this year and many in the fan base agreed. I have never seen our fan base so down on a team than they are right now. Granted, we have been down on the football team the past three years, but they are really upset about baseball. Mainly because they know this team has alot of talent, yet they have not produced to their talent except for a few games this year.

This team AND coaching staff has alot of searching to do, and they have to do it fast. With only one regular season SEC weekend left, the Rebels are on the road to the number 2 team in the SEC. Not the way I would have preferred to end the season.

Give credit to Kentucky, they came into Oxford and whipped us. Very few people including myself, expecting the Rebels to lose the series this weekend. Many were betting on a sweep. Boy were we wrong.

On a side note, whatever screwball we have operating the scoreboard and deciding hits/errors needs to be fired and never allowed back into stadium. I don't know if it is a group of people, or the official scorekeeper making this decision, but they are complete idiots. No wander this team has a very good fielding percentage and the top in the league. When you have scorekeepers like we have not giving away errors, anybody could lead the league in fielding. They have done it all year and someone should report us(could Sam and David ask Ron to call the SEC office about our bushleague scorekeeper and see if we could get them to put pressure on Ole Miss officials for his removal. Bottom line, today there was a dropped ball by Jo. Henry and a mishandled ball Miiller and neither was called an error. Pathetic on Ole Miss's part.

(Sunday SID) OXFORD, Miss. – The Rebel offense came alive late, but the late rally wasn’t enough as No. 18 Ole Miss (33-20, 14-13 SEC) fell 9-7 to Kentucky (33-17-1, 12-14-1 SEC) on Sunday to drop the first home series of the season.

Ole Miss had won eight consecutive home series heading into the weekend. The last home series loss came at the hands of Vanderbilt in the opening weekend of conference play in the 2006 season.

Jordan Henry led the Rebels at the plate with a 2-for-5 performance as he scored two runs on the afternoon. Zack Cozart was 1-for-5 at the plate with a two-run home run as he scored two runs and notched two RBI.

Nathan Baker (6-2) suffered the loss, his first in Southeastern Conference play, as he gave up five runs on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Only three of the runs scored against Baker were earned. Brett Bukvich, Justin Cryer and Cody Satterwhite all saw time on the mound for the Rebels to close out the game.

Taking a Page from the MSU Basketball Team

It is being reported on several internet web sites that some members of the Ole Miss baseball team are parting ways with their head coach Mike Bianco and his team. A couple of these guys never saw the field this year and the other only had a couple of innings of work, after playing a fair amount last year.Those leaving the team are:

Junior RHP Nick Hetland
Freshman RHP/C Tyler McMullen,
Freshman LHP James Wiley

Interesting that all three of these guys are pitchers. Have no fear the Rebels have a good amount of depth in the bullpen for next year and appear to have signed a few more pitchers that will fill in where these guys left.

Big Weekend

This weekend at Swayze Field brings another big weekend for the Ole Miss baseball team as the Kentucky Wildcats come to town. Many Rebel fans feel Bianco's team needs a sweep in order to keep their Regional host status alive. Ole Miss is coming off a disappointing weekend on the road at Tennessee in which they lost the series.

With this being the last regular season weekend at Swayze, it makes the games that much bigger. The Rebels have not had an SEC sweep this year, which has really kept the Rebels in the middle of the back in the SEC standings. It will not get any easier for the Rebels as they travel to a very good Arkansas team next week. So if they want a regular season SEC sweep they must do it this weekend.


Some pitching matchups below are from the SID release:

FRIDAY, 6:30 P.M.
UK - Chris Rusin (So., LHP, 4-3, 73.1 IP, 4.79 ERA)
OM - Will Kline (Jr., RHP, 5-1, 88.2 IP, 3.45 ERA)
NOTING KLINE: Kline took no decision for the seventh time this season as he left the last game with the Rebels holding a 3-1 lead over Tennesse. Kline has struck out 96 and walked 34 this year. Kline has made 13 starts this season, tied for the most on the team with Saturday starter Lance Lynn.

SATURDAY, 4 P.M.
UK - Andrew Albers (Jr., LHP, 6-3, 65.0 IP, 4.71 ERA)
OM - Lance Lynn (So., RHP, 5-4, 86.0 IP, 2.83 ERA)
NOTING LYNN: A two-time SEC Pitcher of the Week, Lynn suffered his fourth loss of the season at Tennessee last week. His 106 strikeouts this year leads the team and moved him into fifth on the single season strikeout list. He has only walked 27 on the year to go along with the 106 strikeouts while leading all starters in ERA this season.

SUNDAY, 1:30 P.M.
UK - Greg Dombrowski (Jr., RHP, 4-2, 58.2 IP, 5.34 ERA)
OM - Nathan Baker (Fr., LHP, 6-1, 59.0 IP, 3.66 ERA)
NOTING BAKER: Baker makes his sixth SEC start against the Wildcats after posting a 3-0 record in five starts in SEC play. Baker has picked up wins against Georgia, LSU and Tennessee since moving into the starting rotation with no decision recorded against #4 South Carolina and #17 Mississippi State.

Rod Reconnecting With His Recruits

As predicted two of Rod Barnes players he recruited to Ole Miss will join him at his new home in Atlanta coaching for Georgia State. Trey Hampton and the X-Man Xavier Hansbro have both announced they will be joining Barnes in Atlanta. Both of these guys did not fit into the gameplan under the Kennedy administration. However they fit in perfectly in Rod's gameplan. Good luck to them all.

With the recent departure of yet another MSU Bulldog, Rod should just come to Mississippi and pick up the players leaving. He could have a pretty decent team, especially if $tans keeps running them off the way he is.

Atlanta (AP) — Two former Mississippi players are transferring to Georgia State where they will be reunited with coach Rod Barnes.
Barnes, the former Ole Miss coach named the Georgia State coach on March 9, said forwards Trey Hampton and Xavier Hansbro are transferring from Ole Miss. He recruited both players for Ole Miss, where they played the last two years.
Hampton (6-8, 225) played in 46 games with 11 starts at Ole Miss. Hansbro (6-9, 230) played in 41 games with three starts.
"I am elated to have this pair back in my basketball family and to become a part of the Georgia State family," Barnes said. "When you're in the process of building a program you want to add great people and good student-athletes. Both these young men exemplify that."
Hansbro and Hampton will be held out as redshirts in the 2007-08 before they will be eligible as juniors at Georgia State the following season.

Good Article on Chadwick and Company

A long time reader of Worldclassglass passed this article along to the staff here today. In my opinion it is a great article about the Ole Miss tennis team and its success over the past decade or so. While some people have criticized Chadwick for his recruitment of foreign players, I don't blame him. There are no tennis players in the state that could rival the tennis players of major college tennis programs around the country.

He also makes valid points in the article about the lack of good players in the United States. These foreign players bring great tennis to our state and provide quality entertainment for those that are tennis fans and even to those that are not. If you have never been to see an Ole Miss tennis match you are missing out. As obvious with their record, they put a great product on the court and dominate their opponents. Hopefully they can continue their success over the next few weeks and make a run in the NCAA's.


Click on the link below from the Commercial Appeal to view the story.( You will need to copy and paste to read article)

www.commercialappeal.com/mca/other_sports/article/
0,1426,MCA_1757_5527461,00.html

Kennedy Adds Another

I know that Kennedy has been after this guy hard for the past year. He appears to be yet another player who can come in and make an imediate impact for a team that needs to fill some depth. I do not know much about this guy except for what is listed below, but I have faith Kennedy sees something in him.


(SID) OXFORD, Miss. - Andy Kennedy continues to strengthen his Ole Miss basketball team in the late signing period, announcing the addition of JUCO forward Terrence Watson to a national letter of intent Tuesday.
A 6-foot-5, 220-pound native of Detroit, Watson earned All-America honors this season after leading Mott Community College (Flint, Mich.) to the NJCAA Division II National Championship. Watson was the Defensive Player of the Year in the conference and helped the Bears post a 60-9 over his two seasons at MCC.
"Terrence was coached by one of the most respected coaches in junior college basketball in Steve Schmidt and experienced a high level of success," said Kennedy. "He is a high-character kid, who has the physical and mental makeup to provide an immediate impact."
Watson filled the stat line for the Bears this year with averages of 12.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.4 blocks and 2.8 steals. He recorded eight double-doubles, including a 27-point, 12-rebound performance against Schoolcraft College.
Watson narrowly missed a triple-double against Alpena Community College with 19 points, 14 boards and eight assists, along with four steals.
"Terrence brings versatility to the forward slot," Kennedy said. "Defensively, he provides a true presence with his 7-foot-1 reach, and can guard any position on the floor."

New Collegiate Baseball Poll

1. Vanderbilt (41-9)
2. Florida St. (42-7)
3. Rice (37-11)
4. Virginia (38-10)
5. North Carolina (37-10)
6. Arkansas (36-14)
7. San Diego (38-14)
8. Texas (38-14)
9. Wichita St. (41-13)
10. UCLA (27-19)
11. Arizona St. (34-12)
12. Oregon St. (35-11)
13. Mississippi St. (31-12)
14. South Carolina (35-14)
15. Arizona (35-11)
16. Long Beach St. (30-14)
17. U.C. Riverside (30-17)
18. Mississippi (32-18)
19. Missouri (33-13)
20. Pepperdine (31-16)
21. Michigan (34-10)
22. Oklahoma St. (34-13)
23. Clemson (31-16)
24. Georgia Tech. (29-17)
25. Texas A&M (38-11)
26. U.C. Irvine (31-13-1)
27. Texas Christian (37-11)
28. Stetson (36-12)
29. Coastal Carolina (38-9)
30. St. John's (32-13)

Dissapointing

It was a disappointing weekend for the Ole Miss baseball team. The Rebels lost a series to the Tennessee Volunteers as the Vols took both the Friday and Saturday night games. Both of these games were one run losses, in which the Rebels had leads late in the game.

On Friday, the Rebels took a 2-1 lead into the ninth until pitcher Cody Satterwhite walked the bases loaded and eventually walked a run in. The next bat saw a UT bloop to the outfield to give them a win. Yesterday, Ole Miss was up 4-1 going into the seventh to watch UT go up 7-4. However a rally in the ninth saw the Rebels come ups short as they lost the game 7-6. The Rebels left runners on base in the ninth as the rally fell short due to strikeouts.

All in all it was the same old stuff. The Rebels got a tun of hits and could not find a way to get the runners home, as they continued to struggle get runners home that were in scoring position. Most fans saw the Rebels winning this series, winning 2 out of 3. So needless to say, most people are a little disappointed.

As of now the Rebels are in fourth place in the overall SEC standings. However there are two series to go. The Rebs have Kentucky this weekend, followed by a road trip to Arkansas. Those teams seeded above the Rebs have a little easier schedule than the Rebels path for the rest of the season. All in all there are two weeks of good baseball left, that this team is going to have to do some gut checking for if they want to continue the great postseason the last two teams have had.

(SID Sunday Report) OXFORD, Miss. -- It was another one run game on Sunday, but the Rebels stepped up to the challenge and come out on the winning side as No. 13 Ole Miss (32-18, 13-11 SEC) put down a bases loaded rally in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Tennessee (27-20, 10-12 SEC) by a score of 7-6.
With the win, the Rebels avoided the sweep in the weekend series.
Freshman southpaw Nathan Baker (6-1) picked up the win to remain undefeated in SEC starts this year as he worked 5.1 innings with three runs on seven hits as he walked four and struck out two. Cody Satterwhite picked up his third save of the year as he worked 2.1 innings with two runs on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts. He entered the game with the tying run on deck.

Sophomore Scott Bittle worked 1.1 innings in middle relief, squelching a Tennessee rally in the sixth inning as he worked 1.1 innings with a run on one hit with four strikeouts.

Lance McClain (5-5) suffered the loss for the Vols as he worked 3.0 innings, allowing three runs on three hits with a walk and no strikeouts.

Logan Power drove in three RBI on the day as he went 1-for-3 at the plate but also notched a sac fly. Cody Overbeck led the Rebels at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance as he scored three runs.

It marked the first time this season the Rebels have been outscored in an SEC series this season as Tennessee grabbed a pair of one-run wins in the first two games. Ole Miss out hit the Volunteers on the weekend as the Rebels have out hit their opponent in all but one series this season.

Rebs End Non-Conference Play

Ole Miss wrapped up non conference play tonight with a convincing win over the Memphis Tigers 10-2. The Rebels were led at the plate by Zach Miller who was 3-4 from the plate with 2 rbi's. The Rebels got it started with back to back home runs in the third from Zach Cozart and Cody Overbeck, there was no looking back from that point as the runs continued to come for the Rebs. The runs allowed for a good bit of substitutions to allow some guys to play that normally don't see the field

It was also a good night for the Rebel pitching staff. Brett Buckvich pitched a good five innings to get the win. It was the second game in a row for Buckvich to have a good performance from the mound.

This was a good win for the Rebels as they got their 31st win of the season. The Memphis fans(I still have never met one) built this game up all week as they normally do, but the Rebels answered the call and shut them up.

I continue to like the play of Zach Miller. He is a fighter not only at the plate, but in the field also. He really helped us out by stepping up at second which allowed us to add another hitter and move Justin Henry to the outfield.

The Rebels move on to Knoxville to take on the Volunteers this weekend. Any series on the road is tough in the SEC no matter who you play. It is imperative for the Rebels to win the series to stay where they are in the SEC standings. It should be another good weekend in Rebel baseball. No word yet whether any of the games will be on t.v.

Another Team in the Postseason

It was announced late this afternoon that the Ole Miss men's golf team has been invited to play in the postseason NCAA golf tournament. The Rebel golf team greatly improved this year, and at one point were in the lead at the SEC Tournament a couple of weeks ago. A long time reader of Worldclassglass, Brice Bailey, is a member of the Ole Miss golf team and has been a part of this resurrection of the program. Not sure where the Rebels will be sent to play, but it is good to see them back in postseason action.

Chadwick Continues His Streak

(SID)OXFORD, Miss. – For the seventh year in a row, the Ole Miss men’s tennis team will host an NCAA Regional, as the field of 64 was announced for the 2007 Men’s Tennis NCAA Championships Tuesday.

Coming to Oxford for the four-team regional will be Jacksonville State, Minnesota and South Alabama. For the first time since 2002, no other SEC team will be at the Oxford Regional. This will also mark the second appearance here for both South Alabama and Jacksonville State. The Rebels defeated South Alabama 4-0 in the second round of the NCAAs in 1999 and downed JSU 4-0 in the first round in 2005. The Rebels last played Minnesota in the round of 16 in 1996, winning 4-0.

“We are very excited about being able to host again,” head coach Billy Chadwick said. “We are looking forward to the teams coming in. It’s that time of year. No one likes to play anyone from the conference that you’ve played a lot. We feel like we did get a break in that all the SEC teams are tough. There was no one in the SEC that we wanted here.”

The Rebels will face Jacksonville State in the first round Friday, May 11 at 4:00 p.m. Minnesota and South Alabama will square off in the other match at 1 p.m. The final will be played at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 12 with the winner advancing to the “Sweet Sixteen” in Athens, Ga.