Ole Miss Baseball Pre-season Notes

THE MIKE BIANCO ERA BEGINS: The 2001 season will mark Ole Miss' first under head coach Mike Bianco. Bianco was hired as the 19th head coach in school history -- the sixth of the University's modern era (since 1947) -- on June 7, 2000, after serving three years as the head coach of McNeese State. A former player and assistant at LSU under Skip Bertman, Bianco compiled a 100-71 record with the Cowboys and led them to the 2000 Southland Conference championship and an appearance in the NCAA Regionals. For his efforts, Bianco was named the SLC's Coach of the Year.

INTRODUCING THE NEW STAFF: Bianco's first coaching staff at Ole Miss will feature two coaches that worked under Bianco at McNeese State. Clint Carver was hired on June 15, 2000 after serving as the hitting coach at McNeese State the past two seasons. He produced the Southland Conference's Hitter of the Year award winner in both 1999 and 2000. Under Carver's instruction, McNeese State set a school record for home runs with 81 in 1999 and the 2000 team established a new school standard for hits with 600 ... Butch Millet also worked with Bianco at McNeese State. After playing for Bianco in 1998 and 1999, Millet was the Cowboys' volunteer assistant last year. He will serve in that capacity again this year at Ole Miss, and will assist Bianco with the pitchers ... Bianco completed his staff with the hiring of Dan McDonnell on June 21, 2000. McDonnell spent the last eight seasons as an assistant at The Citadel, where he helped the Bulldogs to four Southern Conference tournament championships and four regular season conference crowns. A 1992 graduate of The Citadel, McDonnell was a member of the school's 1990 College World Series team -- the first and only military school ever to compete in the CWS. At Ole Miss, McDonnell will serve as the Rebels' recruiting coordinator and will work with the infielders and baserunners.

FAMILIAR FACES: The Rebels return 20 players, including six position starters, from last year's team that finished 30-25. Among the returnees is senior C Carl Lafferty, who led the team in batting last season with a .335 average. Junior OF Burney Hutchinson is the Rebels' top returning home run hitter after hitting 10 last spring. Hutchinson also batted .293 and drove in 37 runs. Other returning position starters include: junior OF Kris Cox (.307, 1 HR, 19 RBI, 11 SBs), junior 2B Clint Farrar (.284, 2, 27), senior 3B Lance Jones (.254, 5, 18) and sophomore SS Chad Sterbens (.348, 0, 4). Sterbens played in 20 games last season, starting nine, and had appeared to have taken over the starting shortstop position before he suffered a season-ending injury. He fractured his right wrist after being hit by a pitch in the ninth inning of an 11-5 Ole Miss win at Memphis on April 25.

In the pitching staff, the Rebels return just two hurlers that recorded at least 30 innings last season -- junior LHP Nathan Lyons (3-1, 2.85 ERA, 41.0 IP) and senior RHP Ronnie Goodwin (2-3, 5.60, 45.0). However, senior RHP Dan McShea is slated to return this spring after being sidelined all of last season when he underwent shoulder surgery. McShea went 7-3 with a 4.05 ERA while working as the No. 2 weekend starter during the Rebels' regional year in 1999.

REBELS ADD USC TRANSFER: This past summer, Ole Miss added junior RHP Pete Montrenes, who transferred to Ole Miss after two seasons at Southern California. Montrenes was 5-1 with a 5.87 ERA (52 ER, 79.2 IP) in 49 career appearances, including seven starts, with the Trojans. He also recorded two saves. As a freshman in 1999, Montrenes led USC with 21 relief appearances, going 2-0 with a 5.77 ERA (25 ER, 39.0 IP). Last spring, Montrenes appeared in 25 games, going 3-1 with a 5.98 ERA (27 ER, 40.2 IP) and was a member of USC's College World Series team. This past summer, Montrenes pitched for the Chatham A's in the Cape Cod League, where he was a teammate of junior Kris Cox. Montrenes was 2-1 with a 3.23 ERA (17 ER, 47.1 IP) for Chatham and finished fourth in the league in strikeouts with 61.

OTHER NEW FACES: In addition to Pete Montrenes, the Rebels will have 19 other newcomers on its 2001 opening day roster, including eight JUCO transfers. Highlighting the newcomers are JUCO transfers Josh Christian (INF), Mike Gray (LHP) and Michael Posey (RHP), and true freshman RHP Adam Yates. Christian hit .324 with 16 HRs and 79 RBI during his two years at Meridian C.C., and was a 2000 All-Conference and All-Region 23 selection. Gray, a native of Chatham, Ontario, Canada, transfers to Ole Miss after two seasons at Olney Central (IL) C.C., where he posted a 12-5 record with a 2.56 ERA and also recorded three saves. Posey joins the Rebels after recording a two-year 15-6 mark at Itawamba C.C., and last spring was an NJCAA Division II second team All-America selection.

OH CANADA: Junior LHP Mike Gray isn't the Rebels' only Canadian connection. Though a resident of Breckenridge, Colo., junior OF Kris Cox was one of 22 players selected to Baseball Canada's Senior National Team that competed in Panama City, Panama, Nov. 24-Dec. 3 in the America's Qualifying Tournament for the 2001 World Cup. The Senior National Team is the equivalent of The United States' squad that captured the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Cox was eligible for the team since his father, Robert, is a Canadian citizen.

Cox started all six games in center field for Team Canada, helping the Canadians to a 3-3 record and a fourth-place finish to qualify for the 2001 World Cup. Cox batted .333 (6-for-18) with two RBI, and had a .520 on-base average as he drew a team-high seven walks.

COX POSTS SOLID NUMBERS AT THE CAPE: While playing for the Chatham A's this past summer in the Cape Cod League, junior OF Kris Cox finished seventh in the prestigious wooden bat league in hitting with a .304 average. He also swiped 19 bases in 24 attempts.

REBELS ON NEW STATION: This season, all Ole Miss home and away baseball games will be carried throughout Northwest Mississippi on WTNM Supertalk Mississippi 105.5 FM, with each broadcast beginning 15 minutes prior to game time. Rebel games had been being broadcasted on Oxford's WQLJ 93.7 FM.

MAYOR'S TROPHY TICKETS: This year's Mayor's Trophy game versus Mississippi State is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wed., Mar. 28 at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Miss. Ole Miss is the designated home team in 2001. For ticket information, fans need to call the Smith-Wills Stadium Ticket Office at (601) 362-2540.

REBEL DIAMOND NOTES

* Ole Miss' 30-25 record last year was the Rebels' third straight 30-win season. It marked the first time the Rebels have had three consecutive 30-win campaigns since 1993-1995.
* Ole Miss pitchers allowed just 15 HRs in 32 games at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field last spring.
* Kris Cox recorded the team's longest hitting streak in 2000 with a 17-game streak from April 1-May 2. The 17-game streak is tied for the third-longest in school history.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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