The University of Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Opens Fall Workouts Monday
9/17/2001 | Baseball
Sept. 17, 2001
OXFORD, Miss. - ,Ole Miss opened fall workouts under the watch of second-year Head Coach Mike Bianco Monday afternoon, at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
Forty-five players, including 20 returnees, reported to the first day of fall practice, which will last four weeks. Coming off a 39-23-1 mark and an NCAA Regional appearance last spring in Bianco's first season, the Rebels were anxious to get back on the diamond.
"It's great to be back on the field again," Bianco said. "It's so much different than last year because we have players returning that have been in our system. We still have a lot of new faces, but we have some talented players returning."
While Ole Miss spent most of day one covering the basic fundamentals, Bianco said he could still see improvement from last year in the returnees, and the potential of the newcomers.
"We pretty much covered the basics today, run downs, pop-fly communication and batting practice," Bianco said. "The players were really enthusiastic and you could see it in their faces. We have four weeks of fall practice to go, but you can already tell some of the things the newcomers bring to the table, and how much the returnees have improved.
"This year, I think we'll be able to evaluate more. We're teaching the same things, but it's much easier because of the returnees. This year, I think we'll be able to hone in on some more individual skills."
The Rebels will hold their first two intra-squad scrimmages of the fall this weekend. Ole Miss will scrimmage on both Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m., at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
