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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Ink Charlie Babineaux To A National Letter Of Intent
5/8/2002 | Baseball
May 8, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss announced the signing of outfielder Charlie Babineaux, from New Iberia, La., and Blinn (TX) Community College, to a national letter of intent to play baseball for the Rebels, Head Coach Mike Bianco announced Wednesday. Babineaux will have two years of eligibility at Ole Miss, starting with the 2003 season.
This spring, Babineaux, 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, is hitting .295 with a team-high 16 home runs this spring, as Blinn has clinched second place its conference, and will be playing in the Region 14 Tournament, May 11-15, with the winner advancing to the NJCAA World Series.
Babineaux prepped at Catholic High in New Iberia, La., where he earned District MVP and 3A All-State honors during his junior and senior seasons. He was also a TPX High School All-America selection as a senior in 1999, after hitting .474 with 13 homers.
"Charlie is a big-time, right-handed hitter that will replace some of the power we will be losing this season in the middle of the line-up," Bianco said. "He's had a great year offensively for Blinn College, having hit 16 home runs and driving in over 60 runs."
He originally signed with the University of Louisiana-Lafayette out of high school, where he spent two years before transferring to Blinn for the 2002 season.
Last year, Bianco's first recruiting class at Ole Miss garnered top 10 national rankings from Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, including a No. 6 ranking from Collegiate Baseball.
The Rebels are ranked as high as of No. 12 by Collegiate Baseball newspaper in this week's four major college baseball polls. Ole Miss (35-13, 14-10 SEC) will open a three-game Southeastern Conference series with Arkansas (25-21, 8-13 SEC) Friday night at 6:30 p.m., at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field. The Rebels enter the weekend in third place in the SEC Western Division, trailing first-place Alabama by three games for the SEC West and overall conference lead.
