Junior right-hander Bobby Wahl will open the baseball season for Ole Miss Friday against a familiar foe in the No. 14 TCU Horned Frogs. Wahl was named a preseason All-America selection as he looks to lead the Rebels to the College World Series.
File Photo (Cain Madden)
Junior right hander Bobby Wahl
For the second year in a row, junior right-hander Bobby Wahl will take the hill for Ole Miss’ season opener, and for the second year in a row, Wahl and the Rebels will be taking on the TCU Horned Frogs.
The difference?
Wahl isn’t making his first Friday night start. This time around, TCU will face a guy who is year older and has a lot of expectations on his shoulders.
“Last year, I learned a lot as a sophomore — the grind of the SEC and the grind of the whole season,” Wahl said. “Taking that into this year is going to be big for me. The experience factor of it is going to be huge for me, Mike (Mayers) and a lot of those guys. We’re excited for it.”
A lot of people would rather start the season with an easier opponent, but Wahl likes the challenge of facing one of the nation’s best to start the year.
“I love it,” he said. “I’m a very competitive person. I know the rest of the guys on the team are, too. Just be able to play these guys that are really talented just like us.”
Friday’s season opener will actually be the fourth start for Wahl against the Horned Frogs. The Springfield, Va., native also faced TCU in the opening-round game of the College Station, Texas, Regional as well as the championship game of the regional.
In his three starts against TCU, Wahl is 2-1 with a 4.41 ERA in 16.1 innings of work. He also totaled 16 strikeouts against the Horned Frogs, compared to just three walks.
Wahl’s lone loss to TCU came in the championship game of last year’s regional that saw the Horned Frogs advance to the Super Regionals, while Ole Miss’ season came to an end. Therefore, there should be some added drama with TCU coming into Oxford Friday.
“You don’t want to have a rivalry game or a revenge match or anything like that, but obviously, there is a little bit of a rivalry between us,” Wahl said. We are two great teams that every time we play, it’s a great game.”
Wahl enters his junior campaign with a lot of expectations. He was named a preseason All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder posted a 7-4 record last season with a 2.55 ERA in 17 starts and was selected to play on the Team USA Collegiate National Team over the summer.
“I haven’t had a better baseball memory than playing for Team USA,” Wahl said. “It’s one of those things where you get to wear USA across your chest. All the cliches, you hear the national anthem and you’re getting goose bumps. It’s special.”
This season, he hopes to use that experience to be a better player and lead the Rebels into uncharted waters. In fact, Wahl sees something about this year’s Ole Miss squad that’s different from any he’s been on.
“It’s a special group of guys,” Wahl said. “We’ve been together for a long time now. We welcome the new guys with open arms. It’s a team. People always say, ‘We’re a team.’ But we really are a team.”
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