Experienced Rebels Ready For SEC Play

The 2017 SEC season brought with it some hard lessons and adverse situations for a young Ole Miss ball club. But this time around, a team that ran through its nonconference slate at 17-1 and has consistently shown signs of being a more mature team is ready for another crack at league play. "That's one of the things you come to college dreaming of," sophomore left fielder Thomas Dillard said. "The Friday night lights in the SEC with 10,000 people at every game. It is good that it is here. We have had a good start to the season but in SEC play we have to keep ramping it up and coming to the field ready to play every day."Dillard's hitting at a torrid .350 mark with four long balls and 15 RBI through the first 18 games and is one of the slew of Rebels from last year's core that has taken the next step forward at the plate. Dillard is getting more at-bats from the left side early on and is hitting much better from that side of the plate as a result. He isn't concerned with the imbalance. Last year, he hit .200 average points higher from the right side. Dillard just thinks it is a matter of sample size this year."A switch-hitter is two different hitters technically speaking because you are using two different sides of the brain," Dillard said with a grin. "Last year, I think I hit .200 points better right handed and this year I am hitting better from the left side. I am just trying to find a happy medium. I haven't gotten many right-handed at-bats but I know Tennessee is throwing lefty so I just need to go out and compete to help my team win."He'll get opportunities from the right side when facing Volunteer lefty and Friday night starter Garrett Crochet."I think it is sample size," Dillard said. "I have hit a lot of hard balls right at somebody. I think it is sample size and a little unluckiness."Dillard isn't the only one ready for another go around in the Southeastern Conference. Sophomore shortstop Grae Kessinger--who has compiled a team-leading 24 hits in the leadoff slot--is eager to get back into the heat of SEC competition."We've had a good first part of the season, but when this time of the year comes around the feeling in the air gets special," Kessinger said. "We are really ready to get back after it and prove this team is ready to go for SEC play."Kessinger has benefitted from an aggressive approach in the leadoff slot, hunting for an early fastball to drive. It has proved to be fruitful and equated to him hitting .338 with seven extra-base hits."It has just been staying consistent with what I want to do," Kessinger said. "It doesn't matter how one game or one pitch goes, just sticking with my approach and staying true to who you are. I think that has really helped me."One thing head coach Mike Bianco has been pleased with is his team's response to adverse situations. Its first loss came in the series opener at Long Beach State, and the team has proceeded to rattle off nine consecutive wins since. It escaped a slippery ninth inning on Tuesday at Georgia State, one in which Dallas Woolfolk worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in a 5-3 game. "We all want it easy," Bianco said. "We all want to win 10-0 or 16-2 as we did the next day, but it is not going to happen. You have to be able to be in those games and you learn a lot about yourself in those games. I am proud of the way we handled it."Granted, Bianco noted the snafus that led to the tight spot were partially self-inflicted, but the toughness and maturity his team displayed to get out of it and seal a close game was telling to him. Tim Elko made a sharp play on a ground ball to third, and then the Rebels turned a nifty 3-2-3 double play to end the threat and the ballgame."We put a lot of pressure on ourselves but the good news is that we were able to handle it," Bianco said. "Dallas handled it on the mound and had two nice plays from Elko and Fortes to finish the game. It is good for you. Those are the things in which you find out what kind of club you are."Ole Miss is 17-1 and playing good, clean baseball heading into the beginning of the most important portion of the season. "You have to come ready to play every day," Kessinger said. "It doesn't matter how Friday, Saturday or Sunday goes. All of these teams can beat you on any given day. You have to be mature and take care of your business each day without looking forward or into the past."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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