OXFORD — Ole Miss baseball's road to Omaha runs through Plainsman Park. The Rebels advanced out of their regional as a road seed and drew the Auburn Super Regional, a best-of-three series on the Plains with a College World Series berth on the line.
The NCAA announced the times Tuesday. Auburn hosts Game 1 at 7 p.m. CT Friday, June 5 on ESPN2. Game 2 is set for 4 p.m. CT Saturday, June 6 on ESPN. A winner-take-all Game 3, if necessary, would be played Sunday, June 7, with the time and network to be announced. The winner goes to the College World Series.
Auburn comes in hot. Butch Thompson's club secured its second straight super regional berth — and its fifth under Thompson — on Monday, beating fourth-seeded Milwaukee 8-3 in a winner-take-all regional final. It was the Tigers' fourth win in a row after they dropped into the losers' bracket, the kind of run that says a team is peaking at exactly the right time.
For Ole Miss, this is the position it has played from all postseason: on the road, outside the host circle, with everything to prove. The Rebels were left off the 16-team host list two weekends ago and have answered every step since. Two more wins this weekend and none of the seeding talk matters — Omaha doesn't ask how you got there.
The matchup is a test of momentum against pedigree: an Auburn team riding a four-game heater into its own ballpark, and an Ole Miss team that has spent the entire tournament proving the bracket wrong. Best-of-three, win two, move on.
The Rebels aren't carrying the state's Omaha hopes alone. Mississippi State opens its own super regional at Georgia the next morning. If both advance, two Mississippi schools are headed to Charles Schwab Field. Here's the weekend for both teams.
Game 1 is on ESPN2, Game 2 on ESPN. The Men's College World Series opens Friday, June 12 in Omaha. Super-regional schedule at ncaa.com; Ole Miss coverage at olemisssports.com.
