For a night, at least, it looked as though Ole Miss’ lineup was back on track. The Rebel bats broke out in their series opener against Kentucky, out-slugging the SEC’s most explosive offense during a 9-6 win last Thursday night. Two days later, Mike Bianco’s club was limping out of Lexington with a series loss and the same old problems at the plate.
The Rebs crossed the plate just three times on Friday and Saturday as they fell to 15-9 overall and 3-3 in conference. That subsequently drops them to No. 18 in the latest composite rankings.
The good news is that the pitching success continued, even if the bullpen was a bit shaky. Take away Kentucky’s grand slam in the eighth inning of Thursday’s three-run win and the Wildcats averaged 3.3 runs per game during the series—compared to their season average of eight.
Kentucky, now 18-7 and 5-1 in conference, still sits two spots below Ole Miss at No. 20. Both D1 Baseball and Baseball America have the Wildcats in front of the Rebels, but Perfect Game left Big Blue out of the top 25 completely.
Here’s the full composite top 25, which averages the country’s three major polls:
Rank | Team | Composite avg. | Rank | D1 Baseball | Baseball America | Perfect Game | |
1 | Oregon St. | 1 | 1 | Oregon St. | Oregon St. | Oregon St. | |
2 | Louisville | 2 | 2 | Louisville | Louisville | Louisville | |
3 | TCU | 3.33 | 3 | Texas Tech | TCU | TCU | |
4 | Texas Tech | 4 | 4 | TCU | Texas Tech | South Carolina | |
5 | Clemson | 5.33 | 5 | Clemson | Clemson | Texas Tech | |
6 | South Carolina | 5.67 | 6 | LSU | South Carolina | Clemson | |
7 | North Carolina | 7.33 | 7 | South Carolina | North Carolina | North Carolina | |
8 | LSU | 8.33 | 8 | North Carolina | Florida | Florida St. | |
9 | Florida | 8.67 | 9 | Florida | LSU | Florida | |
10 | Florida St. | 10.67 | 10 | Cal St. Fulleron | Cal St. Fullerton | LSU | |
11 | Cal St. Fulleron | 11 | 11 | Stanford | Florida Gulf Coast | Houston | |
12 | Stanford | 12.67 | 12 | Florida St. | Florida St. | Stanford | |
13 | Florida Gulf Coast | 13 | 13 | Arizona | Arizona | Cal St. Fullerton | |
14 | Arizona | 14.33 | 14 | Florida Gulf Coast | St. John's | Florida Gulf Coast | |
15 | Auburn | 16.33 | 15 | St. John's | Stanford | Vanderbilt | |
16 | St. John's | 17 | 16 | Kentucky | Kentucky | ECU | |
17 | Virginia | 18.67 | 17 | Auburn | Oklahoma | Arizona | |
18 | Ole Miss | 19.33 | 18 | Virginia | Auburn | UL Lafayette | |
19 | Arkansas | 20.33 | 19 | Ole Miss | Virginia | Ole Miss | |
20 | Kentucky | 20.67 | 20 | Arkansas | Ole Miss | Arkansas | |
21 | Houston | 21.33 | 21 | UL Lafayette | Arkansas | South Florida | |
22 | Oklahoma | 21.67 | 22 | Michigan | Baylor | St. John's | |
23 | UL Lafayette | 23 | 23 | San Diego | Houston | Oklahoma St. | |
24 | ECU | 23.67 | 24 | Oklahoma | Wake Forest | Oklahoma | |
25 | Vanderbilt | 25 | 25 | Southern Miss | ECU | Missouri |