Ole Miss Rebels
Overall Rank: #23
Conference Rank: #6 SEC 
Ole Miss won 43 games heading into the NCAA Tournament and was selected as a regional host team. However, the Rebels will want to quickly forget about last year’s tournament. After falling to fourth seeded Utah in extra innings, Mississippi fell by the same 6-5 score to Tulane and was eliminated. That was a very, very disappointing way to end the season. However, Coach Mike Bianco has brought in the nation’s top recruiting class, including five players ranked in the top 30 of the College Sports Madness baseball recruit rankings. This team is ready to reload and could bring postseason baseball back to Oxford in 2017.
2016: 43-19, 18-12
2016 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Mike Bianco
Key Departed Players:
Wyatt Short, P, 2.90 ERA, 40.1 IP, 31 SO, 11 SV
Brady Bramlett, P, 3.17 ERA, 82.1 IP, 96 SO
Chad Smith, 4.22 ERA, 59.2 IP, 62 SO
Henri Lartique, .353 BA, 4 HR, 31 RBI
J.B. Woodman, .323 BA, 14 HR, 55 RBI
Errol Robinson, .270 BA, 1 HR, 36 RBI
Key Returning Players:
David Parkinson, P, 2.78 ERA, 68.0 IP, 50 SO
Will Stokes, P, 2.93 ERA, 43.0 IP, 40 SO, 7 SV
James McArthur, P, 4.26 ERA, 61.1 IP, 61 SO
Tate Blackman, IF, .322 BA, 3 HR, 38 RBI
Will Golsan, IF, .273 BA, 3 HR, 31 RBI
Colby Bortles, IF, .269 BA, 8 HR, 50 RBI
Projection:
While there are plenty of freshmen who will see major playing time this year, Ole Miss has a solid group of returning players who will lead the way. On the mound, David Parkinson is coming off a superb sophomore season in which he went 5-3 with a 2.78 ERA. James McArthur started a dozen games and earned some Freshman All-American accolades. Brady Feigl and Andy Pagnozzi also earned postseason honors as freshmen and add plenty of options on the mound. Junior Will Stokes made 30 appearances last season and will be the experienced leader out of the bullpen. He tallied seven saves and posted a 2.93 ERA. At the plate, Tate Blackman, Will Golsan and Colby Bortles will be asked to boost their production. Bortles, who is one of two seniors on the Ole Miss roster, hit eight homeruns and drove in 50 runs last season. As long as others can get on base, Bortles will drive in a ton of runs during his senior season and help get Mississippi back to the NCAA Tournament, where they will fare better than they did in 2016.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
Madness 2017 Baseball Recruit Rankings:
#57 Jason Barber
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