The Scouting Report: Breaking Down the Oxford Regional for Ole Miss Baseball

The Ole Miss Rebels will open NCAA Tournament play this weekend in Oxford with the program set to host postseason baseball at Swayze Field.

The Rebels’ region will include Georgia Tech, Murray State, and Western Kentucky in the first Oxford Regional since 2021.

What’s the latest on Ole Miss’ foes heading to town?

Meet the Opponents: Oxford Regional Edition

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets:

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are the only other Power Four team squaring off in the Oxford Regional and are coming off of an impressive 40-17 season where they finished conference play at 19-11 in the ACC.

This gave them the No. 1 seed in ACC Tournament which provided a double bye.

However, after securing a win to put them into the semifinals, the Yellow Jackets took a crushing loss to the Clemson Tigers.

Despite a loss in the ACC Tournament, it shouldn't take away from their accomplishments during the season after becoming one of the better teams in college baseball and earning 40 wins.

The Yellow Jackets faced five Top-25 teams on the season including Clemson (4 games), Auburn (2 games), Georgia, Louisville (3 games), and Duke (3 games).

The tough slate and record also earned them a spot inside the Top-25 themselves after coming in as high as No. 13 and were in the Top-25 for five weeks straight.

The Murray State Racers:

The Murray State Racers are the Rebels' first opponents of the regional round and finished the season 39-13 and 17-8 in the MVC.

The Racers, like Georgia Tech, were also the No. 1 seed in their conference tournament, however they took home the MVC championship after compiling wins with a total aggregate of 40-26 in only two games within three runs.

Murray State has also played both Ole Miss and Western Kentucky this year after taking close losses in both games.

Ole Miss' true freshman standout Hayden Federico walked off the Racers earlier this season while the Hilltoppers secured a pitchers duel victory in a 3-1 win.

The Racers only faced one Top-25 team this season and it was Mike Bianco's squad that walked off the Racers back in the first week of March.

However, they are still a very good team with a +177 run differential and 451 runs scored, which places them No. 43 in Division I.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers:

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are Georgia Tech's first opponent in the Oxford Regional and are coming off a regional best record of 46-12 with an 18-9 conference record in the C-USA.

The Hilltoppers claimed the C-USA Tournament Championship after taking down No. 4 seed Jacksonville State to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with an auto bid.

The Hilltoppers took on two Top-25 teams this year after squaring off against Vanderbilt and conference rivals Dallas Baptist (3 games).

Western Kentucky finished 2-2 against the programs with both wins coming against the Dallas Baptist Patriots to secure a major weekend series win.

Western Kentucky was also efficient in getting runners across the plate against teams after finishing No. 29 in the country with 468 runs scored and a run differential of +237.

Ole Miss has a challenging Oxford Regional ahead of them with the Rebels preparing to take on Murray State on Friday night at Swayze Field.

NCAA OXFORD REGIONAL FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE
No. 2 Georgia Tech (40-17) vs. No. 3 Western Kentucky (46-12): 3 p.m. on ESPN+
No. 1 Ole Miss (40-19) vs. No. 4 Murray St. (39-13): 7 p.m. on ESPN+