COLUMN: What Can Ole Miss Fans Expect Out of First Base This Season?

Tim Elko is no longer in Oxford, but the Rebels have brought in a talented lefty to replace the single-season Home Run King.

OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss Rebels begin their national title defense on Friday when the Delaware Blue Hens travel to Swayze Field for the first weekend series of the 2023 season.

While the Rebels lost multiple mainstays after winning their first national championship in program history, head coach Mike Bianco is confident that he has brought in enough veteran talent via the NCAA Transfer Portal to give Ole Miss a shot at another title run.

This offseason, Bianco was forced to replace one of the greatest power hitters to ever put on an Ole Miss uniform, first baseman Tim Elko. In his final season with the Rebels, “The Captain” clobbered 24 home runs, setting the single-season program record, and bringing his career total to 44 bombs. Elko also finished with a .300 batting average and a whopping 75 RBI.

That is a lot of production to replace, but I believe Bianco has found his guy.

Enter senior first baseman, Anthony Calarco. Calarco spent the last four seasons playing in the infield for the Northwestern Wildcats before he decided to transfer to Ole Miss in July.

In 120 games at Northwestern, the lefty hit for .279 with 21 home runs, 92 runs scored, and 75 RBI, earning a First-Team All-Big Ten selection in the process. Last season, Calarco led the Wildcats with a 1.051 OPS, 48 runs scored, 34 walks, 54 RBI, and 13 home runs, all career-highs.

Calarco may not flash the raw power that Elko had, but he has the experience and the proven ability to get XBH as a lefty hitter.

Here is Bianco's excerpt on Calarco from his Media Day press conference.

"Anthony Calarco is a transfer from Northwestern in Chicago. He was an all-Big 10 player, double-digit home runs, good batting average from the left-handed side. He is certainly going to give us another good edition in the middle of the lineup."

The bottom line is that Rebel fans should not be worried about a drastic drop in production from first base this season.

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You can follow Ben King on Twitter at @BKing_2023.

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