The 1 Thing Ole Miss Must Do to Beat North Carolina in Omaha

Here's how the Ole Miss Rebels can advance in Omaha.

Ole Miss Rebels' Will Furniss (36) celebrates his home run as Auburn Tigers take on Ole Miss Rebels during the NCAA Super Regional game two at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, June 6, 2026. Ole Miss Rebels defeated Auburn Tigers 5-3 clinching the series. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ole Miss has gone undefeated in five games played so far in the regionals and super regionals. Despite being 5-0, Ole Miss held just one early game lead, going up 1-0 against Auburn in game one of the super regionals. The Rebels have had to fight and crawl there ways back to wins.

If Ole Miss and head coach Mike Bianco want to take home another trophy back to Oxford, the key against North Carolina on Friday in the College World Series and moving on in the bracket is getting ahead early and keeping their foot on the gas.

The Ole Miss bullpen has been the key to success for the Rebels' trip to Omaha, as they haven't given up any ground, having an ERA of 2.59 over 24.2 innings.

Getting ahead early and keep momentum

Ole Miss Rebels right-handed pitcher Taylor Rabe (50) pitches against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Mar. 10, 2026. | Matt Bush/Special to the Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The key to the Rebels' success is getting ahead early and keeping that foot on the gas. Bianco has announced Taylor Rabe as the Friday starter for Ole Miss, and nobody better to get the Rebels rocking and rolling. Rabe over his last three starts has an ERA of just 1.42, with just three earned runs over 19 innings pitched, including 30 strikeouts.

If Rabe can continue his success on the mound, the Ole Miss offense has been super clutch over the past two weeks. The Rebels had a respectable .250 average with runners in scoring position and walked 26 times over five regional games.

Bullpen staying strong

Ole Miss Rebels' Walker Hooks (19) pitches as Ole Miss Rebels take on Vanderbilt Commodores during the SEC baseball tournament championship game at Hoover Met in Birmingham, Ala., on Sunday, May 25, 2025. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This Ole Miss bullpen has been nothing short of fantastic over these five regional games. 2.59 ERA over 24.2 innings, as well as the clutch outing by Walker Hooks and Hudson Calhoun, who combined for 8.3 innings and seven strikeouts in Ole Miss' 14 inning win versus ASU game one of regional play.

With Ole Miss winning two games in a row versus Auburn and not having to play a third game like UNC had to do versus USC, the starters and bullpen got an extra day of rest compared to the Tar Heels. Ole Miss being fully healthy and guys like Brayden Randle stepping up when it matters most is going to make it hard for them to lose this battle.

Shutting down a hot North Carolina offense with good command

UNC is hitting .310 as a team over regional and super regional and have scored 61 runs in six games played across the past two weeks. This lineup is nothing to mess with and Ole Miss pitchers will have to adapt to a team that is very patient at the plate as guys like Jake Schaffler and Owen Hull each have 40 plus walks and OBP well above .450.

Ole Miss's pitching staff, which have given up 19 free passes to batters across regional and super regional play, cannot afford any walks to this Tar Heels lineup, which is probably the best they've encountered this postseason run. The Rebels' bread and butter will come from good command and outings from the starters, as the bullpen has already shown to be elite and compete with anyone in the nation.

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