- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,255,698
- Reaction score
- 59
AUBURN, AL — If you trace it back far enough, the Ole Miss baseball turnaround started in the toy aisle at a Target in Florida.
It was early April, and the Rebels were in Gainesville for a three-game series at Florida.
Bullpen pitchers Hudson Calhoun, Terry Hayes and Wil Libbert were searching for a spark. As Will Furniss recounted it, those three pitched in $150 for a life-size stormtrooper helmet.
"We were in Florida and I think we hadn't scored for, like, 17 innings ... They gave it to our offense. Ever since then, we just decided that we could start hitting again," Furniss said. "We just kept putting it on. It kind of just became a prop."
Ole Miss advanced to the College World Series on June 6 by beating Auburn 5-3 to sweep the super regional. It will be the Rebels' first trip to Omaha since winning the 2022 national championship.
The team realized there might be some magic to the Star Wars character helmet when Judd Utermark hit a ninth-inning home run to break a streak of 17 consecutive scoreless innings. Utermark put it on after the 5-2 win and started a tradition.
Before the helmet, Ole Miss was 4-7 in SEC play. Ole Miss closed at 10-8 in SEC play down the stretch and has found a new level in the postseason.
It's officially a home run helmet. Players who go deep get to put it on, but there's room for exceptions.
Furniss hit a two-run home run to give Ole Miss the lead over Auburn in the eighth inning. He celebrated by putting the helmet on right when he got in the dugout.
Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco even put it on in front of the Ole Miss crowd that traveled to Plainsman Park. One of the players who bought it goaded him into it.
"Really I felt no choice," Bianco said. "I had to put it on. Hudson Calhoun brought it out in front of about 500 Ole Miss fans. You've got to put to on."
Bianco said it's the type of tradition that makes college baseball special.
"The kids, how genuine and how sincere they are with their teammates," Bianco said. "We talk about the bus. The locker room. They spend so much time with one another and have these quirky things they think are so, so cool."
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss baseball credits Star Wars helmet for making CWS
Continue reading...
It was early April, and the Rebels were in Gainesville for a three-game series at Florida.
Bullpen pitchers Hudson Calhoun, Terry Hayes and Wil Libbert were searching for a spark. As Will Furniss recounted it, those three pitched in $150 for a life-size stormtrooper helmet.
"We were in Florida and I think we hadn't scored for, like, 17 innings ... They gave it to our offense. Ever since then, we just decided that we could start hitting again," Furniss said. "We just kept putting it on. It kind of just became a prop."
Ole Miss advanced to the College World Series on June 6 by beating Auburn 5-3 to sweep the super regional. It will be the Rebels' first trip to Omaha since winning the 2022 national championship.
The team realized there might be some magic to the Star Wars character helmet when Judd Utermark hit a ninth-inning home run to break a streak of 17 consecutive scoreless innings. Utermark put it on after the 5-2 win and started a tradition.
Before the helmet, Ole Miss was 4-7 in SEC play. Ole Miss closed at 10-8 in SEC play down the stretch and has found a new level in the postseason.
It's officially a home run helmet. Players who go deep get to put it on, but there's room for exceptions.
Furniss hit a two-run home run to give Ole Miss the lead over Auburn in the eighth inning. He celebrated by putting the helmet on right when he got in the dugout.
Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco even put it on in front of the Ole Miss crowd that traveled to Plainsman Park. One of the players who bought it goaded him into it.
"Really I felt no choice," Bianco said. "I had to put it on. Hudson Calhoun brought it out in front of about 500 Ole Miss fans. You've got to put to on."
Bianco said it's the type of tradition that makes college baseball special.
"The kids, how genuine and how sincere they are with their teammates," Bianco said. "We talk about the bus. The locker room. They spend so much time with one another and have these quirky things they think are so, so cool."
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss baseball credits Star Wars helmet for making CWS
Continue reading...
