2017 Ole Miss Rebels baseball team

2017 Ole Miss Rebels baseball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 24
CB	No. 22
Record	32-25 (12-15 SEC)
Head coach	Mike Bianco (17th season)
Assistant coach	Marc MacMillan (2nd season)
Hitting coach	Mike Clement (3rd season)
Pitching coach	Carl Lafferty (11th season)
Home stadium	Swayze Field

2017 Southeastern Conference baseball standings

	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
Eastern
No. 1 Florida  x‍†‍‍y	21	–	9	–	0		.700			52	–	19	–	0		.732
No. 10 Kentucky  ‍‍‍y	19	–	11	–	0		.633			43	–	23	–	0		.652
No. 15 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍y	15	–	13	–	1		.534			36	–	25	–	1		.589
Missouri  ‍‍‍	14	–	16	–	0		.467			36	–	23	–	0		.610
South Carolina  ‍‍‍	13	–	17	–	0		.433			35	–	25	–	0		.583
Georgia  ‍‍‍	11	–	19	–	0		.367			25	–	32	–	0		.439
Tennessee  ‍‍‍	7	–	21	–	0		.250			27	–	25	–	0		.519
Western
No. 2 LSU  x‍†‍‡‍y	21	–	9	–	0		.700			52	–	20	–	0		.722
No. 22 Arkansas  ‍‍‍y	18	–	11	–	0		.621			45	–	19	–	0		.703
No. 13 Mississippi State ‍‍‍y	17	–	13	–	0		.567			40	–	27	–	0		.597
No. 8 Texas A&M  ‍‍‍y	16	–	14	–	0		.533			41	–	23	–	0		.641
No. 29 Auburn  ‍‍‍y	16	–	14	–	0		.533			37	–	26	–	0		.587
Ole Miss  ‍‍‍	14	–	16	–	0		.467			32	–	25	–	0		.561
Alabama  ‍‍‍	5	–	24	–	1		.183			19	–	34	–	1		.361
x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

The 2017 Ole Miss Rebels Baseball team represented the University of Mississippi in the 2017 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Rebels played their home games in Swayze Field.

Previous season

The Rebels finished the 2016 season 43-19 overall and 18-12 in the conference. The Rebels advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament before suffering elimination at the hands of eventual champion Texas A&M in the semifinals. The Rebels earned regional hosting status in the 2016 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, but two straight losses to Utah and Tulane brought the season to an end.

2016 MLB Draft Selections

The Rebels had six players selected in the 2016 MLB draft. The Rebels also had four signees drafted out of high school.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	MLB Team
J.B. Woodman	Outfielder	2	57	Toronto Blue Jays
Errol Robinson	Shortstop	6	191	Los Angeles Dodgers
Henri Lartigue	Catcher	7	197	Philadelphia Phillies
Chad Smith	Pitcher	11	323	Miami Marlins
Brady Bramlett	Pitcher	13	388	Boston Red Sox
Wyatt Short	Pitcher	13	404	Chicago Cubs
Grae Kessinger†	Shortstop	26	774	San Diego Padres
Cooper Johnson†	Catcher	28	828	Cincinnati Reds
Will Ethridge†	Pitcher	35	1047	Seattle Mariners
Ryan Rolison†	Pitcher	37	1104	San Diego Padres

†Grae Kessinger, Cooper Johnson, Will Ethridge, and Ryan Rolison were drafted out of high school, but decided to attend Ole Miss.

Preseason

Preseason All-American teams

3rd Team

• Colby Bortles - Third Baseman (Collegiate Baseball)

SEC Media poll

In the 2017 SEC media poll, released February 10, 2017, the Rebels were predicted to finish third place in the Western Division.

Media poll (West)
Predicted Finish	Team	Votes (1st Place)
1	LSU	72 (13)
2	Texas A&M	55 (1)
3	Ole Miss	51
4	Mississippi State	36
5	Arkansas	27
T6	Alabama	16
T6	Auburn	16

Preseason All-SEC teams

2nd Team

• Tate Blackman - Second Baseman
• Colby Bortles - Third Baseman

Roster

2017 Ole Miss Rebels roster
	Pitchers 1 - DJ Miller - Sophomore 10 - David Parkinson - Junior 12 - Greer Holston - Freshman 17 - Will Stokes - Junior 18 - Connor Green - Sophomore 19 - Andy Pagnozzi - Sophomore 20 - Will Ethridge - Freshman 22 - Ryan Rolison - Freshman 24 - Dallas Woolfolk - Sophomore 26 - James McArthur - Sophomore 28 - Jackson Tavel - Freshman 29 - Andrew Lowe - Sophomore 31 - Jason Barber - Freshman 33 - Sean Johnson - Senior 36 - Thomas Spinelli - Freshman 38 - Korey Bell - Freshman 39 - Brady Feigl - Sophomore 40 - Houston Roth - Freshman 65 - Parker Caracci - Freshman		Catchers 7 - Nick Fortes - Sophomore 13 - Cooper Johnson - Freshman 43 - Carson Klepzig - Freshman Infielders 3 - Bryce Blaum - Freshman 4 - Tate Blackman - Junior 11 - Chase Cockrell - Sophomore 14 - Cole Zabowski - Freshman 15 - Grae Kessinger - Freshman 25 - Colby Bortles - Senior 32 - Michael Fitzsimmons - Sophomore 35 - Trace Tyre - Freshman		Outfielders 27 - Bryan Seamster - Freshman 42 - Tim Rowe - Junior Utility 2 - Ryan Olenek (INF/OF) - Sophomore 6 - Thomas Dillard (C/OF) - Freshman 8 - Will Golsan (INF/OF) - Junior 9 - Kyle Watson (INF/OF) - Junior

Schedule and results

*Rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the Coaches Poll.

Awards and honors

Award watch lists

Award watch lists

Player	Award	Date Awarded	Ref.
Will Stokes	NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Watch List	February 13, 2017
Cooper Johnson	Johnny Bench Award Watch List	March 9, 2017
Colby Bortles	Senior CLASS Award candidate	March 27, 2017

Regular season awards

Weekly Awards

Player	Award	Date Awarded	Ref.
Ryan Olenek	SEC Player of the Week	February 20, 2017
David Parkinson	SEC Pitcher of the Week	March 13, 2017
Ryan Rolison	SEC Freshman of the Week	April 24, 2017
James McArthur	SEC Pitcher of the Week	May 1, 2017

All-SEC Awards

All Conference Awards

Player	Award	Date Awarded	Ref.
Colby Bortles	Second-team All-SEC, 3B	May 23, 2017
Ryan Rolison	Freshman All-SEC, SP	May 23, 2017

All-American Awards

All-American Awards

Player	Award	Date Awarded	Ref.
Will Ethridge	Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, SP	June 7, 2017
Ryan Rolison	Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, SP	June 7, 2017
Houston Roth	Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, RP	June 7, 2017

2017 MLB Draft

Player	Position	Round	Overall	MLB Team
David Parkinson	Pitcher	12	353	Philadelphia Phillies
Tate Blackman	Second baseman	13	387	Chicago White Sox
Colby Bortles	Third baseman	22	665	Detroit Tigers
Brady Feigl	Pitcher	35	1045	Los Angeles Angels
Kyle Watson	Shortstop	37	1108	Pittsburgh Pirates

Players in bold will return to Ole Miss.

Rankings

Main article: 2017 NCAA Division I baseball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
Coaches'	24	24*		20	19	14	22	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—			—
Baseball America	—	22	20	21	18	11	20	—	—	—									—
Collegiate Baseball^	22	14	9	25	25	23	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		—
NCBWA†	27	21	13	18	26	17	23	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

^ Collegiate Baseball ranked 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranked 30 teams weekly during the season.
† NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
* A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.