NCAA Salt Lake City Regional 2023: Ole Miss vs. Baylor preview, online streaming and open thread

Break out the powder blue uniforms - Ole Miss softball is in the NCAA Tournament and starts regional play Friday against Baylor.

The Rebels (30-26, 8-16 SEC) played one of the toughest schedules in the country as its record clearly shows, and it upset enough top 25 programs to earn a seventh consecutive bid to the NCAA Tourney. Ole Miss will be debuting its brand new powder blue uniforms for the entire regional.

As a three seed in the Salt Lake City regional, Ole Miss will face Baylor (39-16, 8-10 Big 12) who is ranked No. 18 in the nation, according to ESPN. Host school Utah is ranked at No. 14 according to ESPN. Needless to say, the road is not easy for the Rebels to advance.

Ole Miss and Baylor will get started at 12 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The good news for the Rebels is not only are they battle tested, but the team does fairly well on the road and neutral sites with a combined 15-15 record.

It’s likely the winner of Ole Miss-Baylor will play Utah, and the loser will play Southern Illinois in an elimination game so the Rebs will have at least two opportunities for a win in regional play. Last season, Ole Miss lost its first game only to rally and win its next two games and make it to the regional championship against UCLA. The last time the program won a regional title was in 2019.