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Must-See Highlights: Bianco’s simple message, ‘Shower Well,’ sparks Ole Miss revival

Ben Garrettby: Ben Garrett05/25/25SpiritBen

A shirsey (shirt-jersey) hangs in the Ole Miss baseball dugout, and inscribed on the back is a simple, two-word team mantra. 

‘Shower well!’

Head coach Mike Bianco, who’s in his 25th season leading the Rebels, came up with it after back-to-back losing seasons. Ole Miss won its first and only national championship in the summer of 2022.

“It’s a metaphor for win or lose today, shower well and let that win, let that loss, go down the drain and show up tomorrow,” Bianco said. “It’s a new day.”

Ole Miss slugging first baseman Will Furniss said the Rebels did’t shower well in either of the last two seasons. 

They’ve more than held their own in 2025, however, and after setbacks that in any other year probably would have derailed them. 

Ole Miss was picked to finish 15th in the 16-team SEC. The Rebels with a 2-0 win on Saturday over top-ranked LSU in the SEC Tournament improved to 40-18 on the season. They’re are just a win away from their seventh SEC Tournament title.

Ole Miss takes on Vanderbilt in a rematch of the 2019 title game Sunday at Noon CT on SEC Network.

“We’re really together,” Ole Miss slugger Will Furniss, who homered against the Tigers, said. “The last couple years doesn’t seem like we had a bunch of fight. We get down, we just kind of give up or ride the ups and downs too much.

“This group is older and we’re tighter. When things go bad, we don’t dip too low, and when things are going good, we don’t go too high. That’s the recipe for success. Just a very mature group of guys. We’re all kind of like family.”

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The Rebels lead the nation in Quadrant 1 wins (19). 

They’re 7-4 against the RPI Top 5 and have a Top 10 strength of schedule. They’re up to No. 10 in the RPI. 

Ole Miss in the regular season won five SEC series, which surpassed the combined total of the previous two seasons. The Rebels last won five in 2021.

These Rebels are different, is the point. They still suffered some ugly losses — the worst probably a 7-3 loss to Little Rock in the midweek in April. But they’ve always responded. 

Or showered well.

“This team has been able to really buy into that,” Bianco said. “Even when we haven’t been at our best they never seem too down. They’re excited to win, certainly excited after tonight’s game, but they’ll be the same team tomorrow morning in the meetings, same team tomorrow in batting practice, and those teams seem to find success more often.”

The included highlights from Ole Miss’ win over LSU were provided by Ole Miss Athletics.

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