Race for Right Field: This week, ‘Swayzeville’ is the newest on-campus housing at Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. – Undoubtedly, The Grove at Ole Miss is the preeminent place in the country to tailgate before a college football game.
In college basketball, Krzyzewskiville is the most popular place for Duke students to camp and wait in line to get their tickets for big Blue Devil games. Duke fans camp for days outside Cameron Indoor Stadium prior to big games in a patch of land named for their beloved coach.
Those two pieces of real estate are getting some company in the college baseball world.
A dedicated group of Ole Miss students have been camping for days at Swayze Field in Oxford to be able to stake out their spots in right field for the Rebels’ season opener Feb. 17 against Delaware.
In the meantime, the portable village was erected at 10 a.m. Tuesday and the students will stay until they have the chance to claim their territory Friday at 1 p.m.
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 8, 2023
“Incredible.” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco tweeted earlier this week about the number of students in line. “Camping out for 4 days to get their seat! The best students section in the country!”
Ben Van Cleve, a popular player on last season’s team, echoed Bianco’s thoughts.
“It’s safe to say that the students are excited about this baseball season,” Van Cleve tweeted. “Nobody does it like this. Right field setup is on Friday… these students have been out here since Tuesday. Really cool.”
So many students showed up, in fact, that they had to be moved from the parking lot into left field at Swayze.
Swayzeville! Because the students showed up 4 days early for Fridays student section set up and there wasn’t enough room in the parking lot, we had to move them into the stadium to LF for the time being. This is a good problem. pic.twitter.com/mQ0A0wRB61
— Coach Mike Bianco (@CoachMikeBianco) February 8, 2023
And who could blame the students for wanting to be in the right field stands waiting for that first beer shower of the season?
When Ole Miss takes the diamond against the Blue Hens, it will be the first time a Rebels baseball team will play a game as defending national champions.
The Rebel Walk spoke with senior Cade Smith who is one of the Ole Miss students waiting for his chance to get the perfect spot.
“Having an area that is yours, personally, is a big deal. Once you have the spot, it’s yours for the entire year. Sacrificing a few days with no sleep is worth it, especially when you have the caliber of program that we have here.”
Ole Miss student Cade Smith
Smith and his fellow students have endured cold and rain, but that has not deterred them.
“The rain didn’t bother us a whole ton,” Smith said. “But anyone that has been in Swayze understands that 49 degrees in Swayze is a lot colder than 49 degrees anywhere else around here,” he added.
Those students will get to see some of the players that brought an improbable national title back to Oxford after an incredible run through the NCAA Tournament just eight months ago.
They will get to see Hunter Elliott on the mound for the first time since he threw a gem as a true freshman in the final game win over Oklahoma.
They will get to see T.J. McCants at the plate. The last time the students saw that, he was lacing a solid single up the middle to knock out the Sooners’ starting pitcher and then scoring the tying run in an eighth inning, three-run rally to secure the title.
They will see Jack Dougherty toe the rubber. The last time he threw a pitch was during his clutch performance against Oklahoma in the first game of the finals. A surprise starter after ace Dylan DeLucia threw a complete game shutout to get the Rebels to the final series, Dougherty was perfect in his first five innings of work to set up a rout in the game.
They will get to see Calvin Harris swing the bat. The last big hit he had was a long home run that was sandwiched between a two-run homer from McCants and a solo shot from Justin Bench. The back-to-back-to-back bombs paved the way for the Rebels’ 10-3 win that put them within one win of the title.
They will get to see preseason All-American Jacob Gonzalez. In his last game he had three hits and drove in a pair of runs against Oklahoma.
They will get to see Peyton Chatagnier, Kemp Alderman, Josh Mallitz, Garrett Wood, Mason Nichols and the rest of the Rebels. The last time they were seen in full uniform was after Brandon Johnson struck out the final batter of the season and they combined for the happiest dogpile celebration in Ole Miss history.
I can’t quit watching the 2022 National Champion Ole Miss Baseball team. Hotty Toddy, everyone! ❤️💙 pic.twitter.com/DyjE3lvYMV
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) June 27, 2022
We asked Ole miss student Smith his thoughts on the upcoming season.
“Obviously it’s very hard to predict postseason success. It requires a lot of luck and things going your way. I would love one last Omaha trip my senior year, though. The SEC West is incredibly deep and challenging, but I think we’ll be in that upper echelon of teams.”
Cade Smith on the 2023 Rebels
Ole Miss has been famous for having never lost a party. There has been one waiting to explode since the Rebels hoisted the national championship trophy last June. It has continued during the offseason and began in earnest Tuesday in the makeshift tent city outside Swayze Field.
Feb. 17 cannot get here soon enough. Ole Miss fans have waited long enough to see their Rebels on the field. And you can bet the wait will have been worth it for the students in right field.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
