Nichols and Moerman tracking toward return as Ole Miss hosts NCAA Regional

Mason Nichols and Ryan Moerman are on track to return for Ole Miss baseball this weekend in the Oxford Regional. 

Ole Miss (40-19) is the No. 10 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will welcome Georgia Tech, Western Kentucky and Murray State to Oxford.

The Rebels take on 4-seed Murray State Friday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

“One of our goals (was) not just to make it to a Regional but to host and be one of the final 16 when the season ends,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “It’s a great reward for the players and a great reward for our great fans. It’s special to play at home in the postseason and good to be back here. I know the guys are excited to continue at Swayze.”

Ole Miss is hosting a regional for the first time since 2021.

Nichols is a senior right-handed pitcher. He’s been shelved since mid-May with a oblique strain and missed all of the SEC Tournament. Nichols had served as Ole Miss’ Sunday starter all year but was pulled with lower-back tightness in the fourth inning of the Rebels’ regular-season finale against Auburn.

Moerman is a transfer slugger from Illinois. Ole Miss knocked out three Regional host teams in Hoover, including then-No. 15 Florida to open the tournament. Moerman started in right field and was 1 for 3 at the plate.

Moerman hurt his knee slightly and was concussed on a nasty collision with Ole Miss center fielder Isaac Humphrey on Friday. The Rebels were playing No. 5 Arkansas and eventually won, 5-2. Freshman Hayden Federico took over for Moerman for the final two games.

“Saw Dr. (Kurre) Luber, team orthopedic, this morning,” Bianco said on Monday. “All doing much better. All on anti-inflammatories, doing rehab. I would be surprised if they all weren’t ready to go this weekend.”

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Nichols appeared and started in 14 games during the regular season.

He worked 50.2 innings with a 5.52 earned run average and allowed 36 runs (31 earned) on 57 hits. Nichols totaled 51 strikeouts and 24 walks. Moerman started all 56 games for Ole Miss and hit .271 with 11 home runs.

Ole Miss is back in the postseason for the first time in three years and after back-to-back losing seasons. The Rebels’ successful plan for the 2024 MLB Draft and efficient work in the NCAA Transfer Portal are the primary reasons why. 

Ole Miss went into last summer’s draft hoping to build out its pitching staff for the season by keeping a handful of veterans from signing. Ole Miss had unexpected, and significant, freed-up NIL dollars following the departures of Andrew Fischer and Liam Doyle, who are both now at Tennessee, another Regional host.

Those dollars were earmarked, in part, to aggressively bid to retain Nichols, Riley Maddox, Hunter Elliot and Connor Spencer. The Rebels kept them all and bolstered their lineup significantly in the portal. 

Ole Miss has utilized a starting outfield for the majority of the season composed exclusively of one-year transfers: Moerman, Humphrey (Louisville) and Mitchell Sanford (UNO).

The result?

An impressive bounce-back season and the return of postseason baseball to Swayze Field. The Rebels shouldn’t be limited when it arrives, either.

“We thought it was a big coup when we knew we were going to get Elliott, Maddox and Nichols back,” Bianco said. “Three guys that played on the national championship team that probably at this time last year didn’t think we’d them back, along with Connor Spencer. When you get three weekend starters back and a closer and guys that have all had success in this league, I think that’s a great start. 

“But then when you go into the portal, we wanted to go some older guys from Power 5 schools that have had success at this level. When you look up and see Moerman, Humphrey, Sanford and (Ole Miss catcher Austin) Fawley, we thought we had a great mix. You never know if you’re right until you put them all in one locker room. But culture has usually never been our program, and the guys have really bought in and played really well.”