Four Ole Miss Rebels Named to 2022 USA Baseball National Team
Four Ole Miss Rebels have been named to the 2022 USA Baseball National Team after winning the first national championship in program history.
The Rebels have never had more than two players participate on the collegiate national team.
Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez was invited to the national team at the end of May, freshman southpaw Hunter Elliott was invited in early June, and freshman right-handed pitcher Mason Nichols is the latest Rebel player to receive an invitation.
In 2022, Gonzalez recorded a .273 batting average, 52 RBIs, and 18 home runs en route to earning his second invitation to USA Baseball and his first national title. Elliott earned his invitation after solidifying his role as the No. 2 starting pitcher on the Ole Miss roster recording a 2.70 ERA, 102 strikeouts and only giving up 24 earned runs as a true freshman.
Nichols earned his spot on the collegiate national team after recording a 2.84 ERA, and 41 strikeouts while surrendering just 10 earned runs coming out of the Ole Miss bullpen. The freshman out of Jackson, Miss., played a big part in shutting the door on the Oklahoma Sooners in the College World Series Finals.
The 2022 USA Baseball National Team will be managed by Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco, who was just recently named the 2022 National Coach of the Year. Bianco has been named coach of the year twice since 2020, and after coaching the Rebels for 22 years, he finally won the game everyone said he could not.
The winningest coach in Ole Miss Baseball history will now get to make his managerial debut with USA Baseball. Bianco previously worked for the USA Baseball team as a pitching coach in 2013. He coached the national team pitching staff to a collective 1.87 ERA, 222 strikeouts, and a 20-3 record.
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