'I've never seen it that ecstatic': After a long few days of uncertainty, Ole Miss earns NCAA Baseball Tournament berth

May 30—OXFORD — If he's being completely honest, Kevin Graham didn't watch much baseball over the last few days. And the little bit he did watch largely involved Nintendo characters.

Ole Miss baseball spent the last few days in-flux after falling to Vanderbilt in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The Rebels entered the SEC Tournament likely getting into their fourth-straight NCAA regional, but as upsets happened around the country, the reality of the situation looked less certain.

So, the Ole Miss senior left fielder played a lot of Mario Superstar Baseball with roommate Banks Tolley.

"Personally, I haven't looked at anything, couldn't watch any baseball. Been playing a lot of Mario baseball on the GameCube of late," Graham said with a smile. "Banks and I are in deep to that. I've been winning."

The Rebels spent the last few days practicing in case their name was called Monday morning during ESPN's selection show, the show revealing all 64 teams with the opportunity to keep their seasons alive.

After a bit of a wait, the Rebels learned that, despite a season of ups and downs, their hopes and dreams are still within reach.

No. 3 seed Ole Miss team will face No. 2 seed Arizona — a rematch of last year's Tucson Super Regional — at the Coral Gables, Florida, regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament. It is the fourth-straight postseason berth for the Rebels, who finished the regular season by winning eight of 10 games. No. 1 seed Miami is the host, and the No. 4 seed in the region is Canisius.

First pitch for the Rebels' first game is 6 p.m. Friday, and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Head coach Mike Bianco has been at the helm of Ole Miss for more than two decades. He's watched a lot of selection shows with his teams. But even he admits that Monday's felt a little different, truly not knowing which way things were going to go. Ole Miss was one of the last four teams in the field.

"I've never seen it that ecstatic," Bianco said. "And it's really cool, because it's from a group, and not to get into the minutiae of who deserves to be in and who doesn't, but just from a personal standpoint, a team that I think is really good. A team that, at times this year, we weren't at our best. And at times, we were really good.

"But to see them that excited to continue to play was really neat."

The Rebels (33-22) experienced a season filled with ups and downs. They started the year with dreams of the program's first trip to Omaha in eight years and were at one point the top-ranked team in the country.

But injuries and inconsistencies in the lineup and pitching staff saw Ole Miss stumble to a 7-14 start in SEC play, seemingly eliminating them from any postseason hopes.

The Rebels rallied, however, winning seven games in a row and eight of 10 overall to close the regular season — including the program's first ever sweep at LSU — to position themselves back in the bubble conversation. Ole Miss lost in the first round of the SEC Tournament but finished the season with an RPI of 38, according to D1Baseball.

"We kind of shot ourselves in the foot, ending up in this position," Graham said. "It was tough. Even my girlfriend was asking me about it when I'd get home from practice."

So, for a few days, Ole Miss played the waiting game. And when their name finally popped up on the ESPN graphic, it was a surreal feeling for everyone in the room. Graham said he legitimately blacked out for a second.

"We were just going nuts. Going into it ... we were hoping we were getting in. And when we saw our name, (the) place just erupted," senior first baseman and captain Tim Elko said. "Boys are feeling great, fired up, and ready to get down to Miami."

Arizona (37-23) lost head coach Jay Johnson to LSU in the offseason but had another solid season before losing to Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament. While key players such as third baseman Jacob Berry left for LSU with Johnson, the Wildcats are still formidable offensively behind the powerful bat of catcher Daniel Susac. Susac is hitting .367 with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs and, as a team, Arizona has a batting average of .296.

Walking up to reporters from the field with his trademark smile, Elko told everyone within earshot that, "Today's a great day." After interviews, he walked back onto the field for practice and gave an exuberant "Let's go!"

All the Rebels wanted was an opportunity. And they got it.

"We're just happy we're in, giving us a chance," Elko said. "Because I think if you just give us a chance and let us go play, we'll let our game talk."

MICHAEL KATZ is the Ole Miss athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at michael.katz@djournal.com.