Oxford Regional Preview | Here’s a look at the teams Ole Miss hosts at Swayze: Georgia Tech, Western Kentucky and Murray State

OXFORD, Miss. — The field of 64 is set and Ole Miss will host the Oxford Regional beginning this Friday, May 30. Joining the Rebels will be No. 2 seed Georgia Tech, No. 3 seed Western Kentucky and No. 4 seed Murray State.

The Oxford Regional is paired with the Athens Regional, which is hosted by No. 7 overall seed Georgia.

The Rebels (40-19) finished the season on a run in Hoover, defeating Florida, Arkansas and LSU before falling to the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt, 3-2, in the finals. They also notched 20 SEC wins on the season.

This will be Ole Miss’ 11th time to host a regional under head coach Mike Bianco — and the first time Oxford has been a host site since 2021. Out of the 10 times the Rebels have advanced to Super Regionals, seven of those have come after winning the Oxford Regional.

Here’s a look at the teams who will be in Oxford this weekend.

Georgia Tech

The No. 2 seed in the region, Georgia Tech (40-17), is the winner of the ACC regular season with a record of 19-11. There had been some thought the Yellow Jackets, who lost in their conference tournament in the semifinals to Clemson, might be a host in the tournament.

When it comes to RPI, Georgia Tech finished at No. 21. Ole Miss, meanwhile, finished at No. 12.

Interestingly, in looking at the Yellow Jackets’ conference record, they did not play the No. 2, 3, or 5 teams in the league — North Carolina, Florida State and NC State, respectively. They also lost to the league’s No. 4 Clemson and No. 6 Virginia.

Georgia Tech head baseball coach Danny Hall announced earlier this year that he will be retiring at the end of the 2025 season. He has been at the helm of the Yellow Jackets baseball program for 32 seasons, and one could imagine his team will be motivated to play for him.

The Yellow Jackets are no strangers to Oxford, having been the No. 3 seed in the Regional in 2014.

This season, Georgia Tech has played two SEC foes, Auburn and Georgia. Though they were defeated in all three, each game was very close.  They lost 9-8 to Auburn on April 8 in Atlanta. They lost 5-2 to Georgia on April 15 at Truist Park, and fell 1-0 at Auburn. The Tigers are the No. 4 overall seed, while Georgia is No. 7, so the Yellow Jackets are a tough opponent to have as a 2-seed in the regional at Swayze.

Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky is the 3-seed in the Oxford Regional. The Hilltoppers finished as the Conference USA Champion after beating Jacksonville State in the tournament final.

They finished with a 42-12 record, including an 18-9 conference record. Against SEC foes this season, Western Kentucky went 1-1, losing to Vanderbilt, 5-4, in 10 innings in Nashville and beating Kentucky, 6-4, in Bowling Green.

The Hilltoppers also have experience in Oxford, participating in the Oxford Regional in 2004 and 2009. They made their way to the regional finals in 2009 before falling to the Rebels.

Murray State

Murray State is the No. 4 seed in the regional this year. The Racers (38-13) finished as the Missouri Valley champion, finishing the season at 17-8 in conference action and a red-hot 4-0 in the league tournament.

The Rebels hosted the Racers back on March 5 in Oxford, gutting out an 8-7 win over Murray State in 10 innings. Murray State played one other SEC team, Kentucky, this season. They defeated the Wildcats, winning 5-4 in Lexington back on March 18.

Murray also beat Oxford regional participant Western Kentucky, 2-1, in 12 innings back on February 24.

Ole Miss vs. Murray State in regional opener

Ole Miss opens up Friday night against Murray State. The Racers hold the No. 88 RPI in the country and are hitting .302 with a .916 OPS as a team.

The Racers are expected to throw RHP Nic Shutte, a junior, against the Rebels. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder holds a 4.02 ERA in 78.1 innings pitched. He’s tallied 77 strikeouts and has walked 42.

Mike Bianco has not announced a starter yet for the game for Ole Miss.

Injury Update: 

At Monday’s media availability, Coach Bianco indicated that the Rebels will have both pitcher Mason Nichols and OF Ryan Moerman back for the Regional.