Rebel Roundabout: High-school gun-slinger Harris had friendly (Malik) Nabers as star WR
Ole Miss baseball has a critical series finale with No. 18 Alabama left to deal with, but the Rebels, well before first pitch, reworked a bit of their future scheduling.
A midweek matchup between Ole Miss and Murray State in Oxford — originally scheduled for April 9 but postponed due to weather — will now be played May 8 at 5 p.m. CT.
Ticket-holders should use current tickets for the rescheduled game, date and time. New tickets will not be issued, and mobile tickets will update automatically to reflect the new game date.
A career night from second-year slugger Will Furniss helped Ole Miss baseball dig deep for a had-to-have-it, series-tying win over No. 18 Alabama Friday night.
Furniss was 4 for 5 in helping the Rebels (23-19, 7-13) rally for a 9-8 win and snap a seven-game winning streak for the Crimson Tide (27-16, 8-12). The series rubber match is Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
“We really needed this one,” Furniss said afterwards. “We fought and battled. Just needed to keep swinging.”
TIM ELKO DELIVERS!!
— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) April 27, 2024
6-5 Barons#bhambarons pic.twitter.com/hnZuJaQumu
OH, CAPTAIN!
Tim Elko made Friday night extra special for Ole Miss baseball.
The all-time Rebel great, who has a statue in his honor at Swayze Field, drove in the game-winning run in a 6-5 win for his Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox selected Elko in the 10th round of the 2023 MLB Draft. He’s an almost-unprecedented, former three-time Ole Miss team captain. He started every game for the Rebels during their national championship run in 2022.
Elko led Ole Miss in slugging percentage (.642), RBI (75), home runs (24) and total bases (154) that year. He set a single-season program record for home runs (22 in the regular season) to move into second place in the career record books.
Elko got off to a slow start in the CWS. Even still, he finished with a .280 batting average and clubbed two home runs. The most consequential was in Game 1 of the finals. Elko was 4 for 5 with a homer and three runs scored against Oklahoma.
Ole Miss ‘got hot,’ to use Elko’s now-legendary words, and swept both games.
HARRIS’ FRIENDLY NABERS
Tre Harris was a decorated high-school quarterback long before he became the leading, star wide receiver for Ole Miss football.
Harris is in his second season as a Rebel after transferring in from Louisiana Tech. He was a Top 5 wideout in the SEC and one of three Rebels last season to haul in 700 or more receiving yards. ESPN named Harris one of its Top 100 players for 2023. He finished with 54 catches for 985 yards and eight touchdowns.
However, coming up in football, Harris was known for throwing touchdowns, not catching them.
Harris started at quarterback for Comeaux (Louisiana) High School. The Lafayette Daily Adviser once named him Prep Football Player of the Week after he was 11 for 11 for 262 passing yards and two touchdowns in a game. He rushed for 119 yards and two more scores.
Harris will detail his unique career path this week in his stop by the ‘Ivey League,’ a podcast hosted by third-year star Ole Miss defender Jared Ivey and powered by RiverLand Roofing. Fifth-year Rebel head coach Lane Kiffin was Ivey’s most recent guest.
The ‘Ivey League’ is exclusively partnered with, and distributed by, the Ole Miss Spirit.
The leading receiver for Harris was Malik Nabers. Nabers led all players in FBS with 1,569 receiving yards last season. Nabers was selected No. 6 overall by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
No Rebels were drafted through the draft’s first three rounds. Most likely of the eligible Rebels to hear their name called in the final four are EDGE Cedric Johnson, CB Deantre Prince and S Daijahn Anthony.
