The University of Mississippi Athletics
Oxford Regional - The Competition
6/3/2016 | Athletics, Blog
รย By Tate Hawkins, Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant
The 2016season has been a big one for the Rebels. The 40-16 regular season record wasthe fourth 40-win regular season in program history. The Rebels went 18-12 inSEC play as well as 3-1 in the SEC Tournament with their run ending in thesemifinals after a 12-8 loss to #1 Texas A&M. Of those 40 wins, six of themcame against national top-8 seeds, including two against #2 Louisville early inthe season. The Rebels won six SEC series, including three sweeps (Arkansas,Auburn, Kentucky), and a big time series win against #8 LSU. With all thesuccess from February to May, it has paved the way for Regional play of theNCAA Tournament to return to Oxford for the first time since 2014, and theseventh time overall ('04, '05, '06, '07, '09, '14, '16). รย
The 2016Oxford Regional will begin on Friday June 3, and it will feature the Rebels,the Tulane Green Wave, Boston College Eagles, and Utah Utes. Before play beginsFriday afternoon, we're going to take some time to preview the three teams whowill start their journey to Omaha in Oxford with the Rebels.รย
#2 Seed Tulane GreenWave - (39-19) (15-7 American)
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Conference: American Athletic Conference (1st)
Head Coach: David Pierce (2nd Season)
RPI Rank: 29
The TulaneGreen Wave come to Oxford as an at-large team after winning 11 of their last 16games and the AAC regular season crown. The championship was the program's firstsince 2005 as members of Conference USA. They boast three wins against nationalseeds including two midweek wins against #8 LSU. As a team, the Green Wave hasa team batting average of .267 and have been able to blast 60 home runs as ateam led by juniors Hunter Hope with 13, Jeremy Montalbano with 11, and JakeWillsey with 10. The pitching staff holds a 3.20 team ERA, allowing 224 runs onthe year in 522.1 innings. The starters who will most likely see action on themound in Oxford this weekend are senior righties Emerson Gibbs and Alex Masseyas well as sophomore righty J.P. France. The Green Wave will open up theweekend in Oxford against 3 seed Boston College on Friday, June 3 at 3 pm.รย
#3 Seed BostonCollege Eagles - (31-20) (13-15 ACC)
Location: Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference (5th -Atlantic)
Head Coach: Mike Gambino (6th Season)
RPI Rank: 39
BostonCollege comes to Oxford as another at-large team after winning seven of theirlast 10. The trip to the tournament is the 11th time in program history and thefirst since 2009. The Eagles boast series wins over #2 Louisville and defendingnational champion Virginia. As a team, Boston College has a .266 battingaverage led by sophomore outfielder Scot Braren who has hit .322 in 21 gamesthis season. The pitching staff holds a 3.65 ERA coming into Regional play,allowing 213 runs in 455.2 innings. The starters most likely to see action thisweekend are junior right handers Justin Dunn and Mike King as well as freshmanrighty Jacob Stevens. The Eagles will open up the weekend in Oxford against #2seed Tulane on Friday, June 3 at 3 pm.
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#4 Seed Utah Utes -(25-27) (19-11 Pac-12)
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Conference: Pac-12 (1st)
Head Coach: Bill Kinneberg (13th Season)
RPI Rank: 92
Utah comesto Oxford on an automatic bid after winning the Pac-12 for the first time sincejoining the league in 2011. The Utes will play in the NCAA tournament for the secondtime in program history after playing as members of the Mountain Westconference in 2009. As a team, the Utes hold a .281 batting average, led bysenior infielder Cody Scaggari who has hit .328 in 49 games this season. Thepower for Utah is a little better than that of Boston College with 27 home runs,and the Utes boast five players hitting .300 or better. The pitching staffholds a team ERA of 4.83 allowing 307 runs in 453.0 innings. The starters whowill most likely see action this weekend are senior right handers DaltonCarroll and Nolan Stouder along with sophomore right hander Jayson Rose. TheUtes will open up the weekend in Oxford against #1 seed and host Ole Miss on Friday,June 3 at 7 pm.
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It's anexciting time in Oxford as the Rebels look to return to postseason glory andmake a run towards Omaha. So get your lawn chairs, coolers, and sunscreen andhead out to Swayze this weekend for possibly your last chance to see the Rebsat home!
