WATCH: Mike Bianco says Ole Miss fans on 'another level' for CWS Finals
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco spoke before their CWS Finals matchup with Oklahoma about how the fan support was on “another level” today. Bianco was stopped before the game and asked how it felt to be playing for a national title and how it was impacting his players’ energy.
Mike Bianco on the Ole Miss fans
“We were trying to stay calm until we walked out of the meeting room at the hotel,” admitted Bianco. “We’ve had great fan support here, but it’s at another level today. You can see it coming out of the hotel, pulling up to the stadium, all down the streets — Rebel Nation has showed up proud.”
Bianco was then asked how he felt about watching his team reap the rewards of their hard work and make it to the finals this year.
“Just their belief in one another,” said Bianco. “You’ve documented the story and where we were. I think when you get to this point you look back and you go ‘wow’ — how proud you are of them. Just a neat story and hopefully it’s not complete yet.”
Now, Ole Miss is only two wins away from a national title as they prepare to play a best-of-three series with Oklahoma.
The opposing fans in attendance have no shortage of energy as Oklahoma attempts to make history in the tournament by winning a title in the same year as their program’s softball team did. No school in the history of the CWS and WCWS has won both tournaments in the same season.
In their way is an Ole Miss team that nearly reached the CWS Finals as an undefeated team — before losing a game to Arkansas and forcing a winner-take-all game three to send them to the finals. The Rebels have been one of the toughest pitching and fielding teams of the postseason, and Oklahoma’s bats will look to find offense against them similar to their previous games of the tournament.
Oklahoma hasn’t scored less than five runs in any game of the NCAA Tournament, and has scored over ten runs in three games. Ole Miss has only given up more than five runs once — to Arizona in the regional round — and has thrown three shutouts.