Ole Miss baseball kicks off final road trip with postseason hopes in the balance

This is not the push for the postseason that the Ole Miss baseball team envisioned themselves a part of three months ago.

But it is the journey the Rebels now find themselves on.

Their final road trip of the regular season will either keep them on it or make next week’s home finale nothing more than a final sendoff.

The fact Ole Miss (27-19, 10-14 SEC) still has a pulse when it comes to their chances of reaching Hoover, Ala., for the SEC Tournament in two weeks or even the NCAA Tournament next month is because of their sweep over Missouri this past weekend.

Both teams entered last weekend tied for 12th in the SEC and the worst record in the conference. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and Ole Miss is tied for ninth and catching their second, or third, wind.

The pitching and the hitting all came together again this past weekend after Ole Miss struggled to put complete performances from both phases together in the same games for nearly two months.

Now, the hill may be too high to climb, but the Rebels look to have their confidence back.

There are slight similarities to this year’s team and the team from 2019.

While Ole Miss was positioned well within the NCAA Tournament field they dropped eight of their last 11 regular season games and were in danger of losing a Regional host opportunity. They rallied with a deep run in Hoover.

Now, that is not the same situation here at all as Ole Miss has been scuffling for longer than their last 11 games and there is not a shot they claim a Regional host bid, but for some who were a part of that 2019 late season push the same mentality applies.

“It’s similar in the way that we kind of had some tough games not go our way and haven’t been able to pull them out at the end,” said Tim Elko. “Just trying to stay with with and stay positive. Keep the boys with their heads up and ready to play that next game.”

Sitting with 10 SEC wins with six left to play brings the RPI game into focus.

For Ole Miss, it is a game it is currently losing.

Heading into Wednesday’s game at No. 14 Southern Mississippi (36-12), Ole Miss is currently sitting at No. 55 in the RPI rankings but they have several opportunities ahead of them.

The Golden Eagles have scuffled themselves lately, dropping their last two Conference USA series to UAB and Old Dominion but their RPI ranking is No. 17. Ole Miss has a prime chance to avenge that tough loss in Pearl last month and get another Quadrant 1 win under their belt.

That then brings this weekend into focus with a trip to Baton Rouge, La. to play No. 14 LSU (33-15, 14-10 SEC). The Tigers are sitting just above the Golden Eagles in the RPI rankings at No. 16. That makes four prime RPI boosting opportunities in a row for Ole Miss.

The Rebels cap off the five-game road trip next Tuesday in Jonesboro, Ark. at Arkansas State (11-32). That game hurts Ole Miss to even start, as the Wolfpack are currently No. 220 in the RPI.

However, they close out the Regular season at home with No. 10 Texas A&M (30-16, 16-6), and the Aggies are No. 19 in the RPI.

Wednesday’s game in Hattiesburg at Pete Taylor Park between Ole Miss and Southern Miss is scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch and will air on ESPN+.