Ole Miss Rebels
Overall Rank: #20
Conference Rank: #8 SEC
Mississippi Team Page
The Ole Miss Rebels had some huge signature wins throughout the 2012 season beating TCU, Arkansas and sweeping Florida, among many others. The Rebels were led by the return of ace pitcher Bobby Wahl. The Rebels come into 2013 looking to kick the door down and make it to Omaha. Swayze Field is one of the best, if the not best, setting in College Baseball and, with the rabid fan support, Ole Miss should be tough at home as always and be a threat for an SEC Championship and a regional host bid.
2012: 37-26, 14-16
2012 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Mike Bianco
Field Players:
Senior Tanner Mathis is going to set the tone for Ole Miss this season. Mathis played in all 63 games in 2012, hit .359, had 88 hits, and a .460 on-base percentage. The Rebels need to replace 25 homeruns from the departed Matt Snyder and Zach Kirksey. In addition they need to replace Alex Yarborough’s .380 batting average. Guys like Preston Overbey and Will Allen will be relied on heavily to drive in runs and hopefully produce a few more homeruns to take the pressure off of the offense as a whole. Austin Bousfield will also be a key returner as he hit .281 in 2012 and hit twohome runs and drove in 22 in the 2012 season.
Pitchers:
Junior Bobby Wahl is a Preseason All-American by College Sports Madness and is going to be the anchor of the Rebels rotation once again in 2013. The Friday night pitcher in the Southeastern Conference is absolutely huge and having Wahl is going to give Ole Miss a tremendous chance every weekend to win the series. Wahl was 7-4, with a 2.55 earned run average and led the SEC in several pitching categories. Junior Mike Mayers, also a right-hander, is going to be very important as the number two starter. He will be counted on to go deep into games as well to save the bullpen. Mayers was 6-3, with a 3.50 earned run average and had two shutouts. Brett Huber will take care of things in the closer role as he had 10 saves in 2012 along with 29 strikeouts in 25.1 innings pitched.
Who to Watch:
Christian Helsel, out of Altoona, Pennsylvania, will provide some needed versatility to the Rebel lineup. Brady Bramlett is a big 6-4 220 pound hard throwing right-hander. He can throw a 90 plus miles an hour fastball and could compete for the third spot or be in the mix for a mid-week rotation slot. Cameron Dishon is a 6 foot tall outfielder from Beaumont, Texas who should compete for time in the outfield and was first team All-Texas in 2012 according to Rawlings.
Final Projection:
The Rebels will need to be ready to go right off the bat as they host highly ranked TCU in the opening weekend of the regular season. In conference play, early road trips to Fayetteville to play Arkansas, and Gainesville to play Florida will be a litmus test to see how Ole Miss stands in the landscape of the Southeastern Conference. The Rebels get to avoid South Carolina, which is huge for them. Vanderbilt rolls into Swayze Field April 5-7 in another prime time showdown type of series. If the Rebels can find some impact power hitting to complement the average and speed of guys like Mathis, they should be able to be in every game. The pitching with Wahl, Mayers, and Huber should provide them enough to navigate a Regional round and be a threat for Super-Regionals and beyond to potentially Omaha.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tounament
Returning Leaders:
At Bats: Tanner Mathis, IF, 245
Hits: Tanner Mathis, IF, 88
Home Runs: Austin Bousfield, OF, 2
RBIs: Will Allen, C/IF, 24
Runs: Tanner Mathis, IF, 50
Stolen Bases: Tanner Mathis, IF, 8
Wins: Bobby Wahl, P, 7
Innings Pitched: Bobby Wahl, P, 99.0
Strikeouts: Bobby Wahl, P, 104
Saves: Brett Huber, P, 10
Madness 2013 MLB Draft Rankings:
#8 Bobby Wahl
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