Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco keeps up with Dan McDonnell more than he does most of his friends in the business.

That’s not surprising, since McDonnell helped Bianco build the Rebels’ baseball program into a nationally respected postseason regular.

Now he’s doing the same in his own job, at Louisville, and he credits much of his fast start to what he learned as Bianco’s lead assistant and recruiting coordinator for six seasons.

Student and teacher meet head to head for the first time today as No. 10 Louisville meets No. 18 Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m., at Swayze Field in the first of three games.

“We’ll probably eat breakfast Friday morning,” Bianco said.

The two exchange frequent phone calls and, more often than that, text messages, but there will be limited social contact this weekend.

For McDonnell, that’s also true of the other friends he made while living in Oxford.

“It’s not because I don’t like them. A lot of people reached out to us during our time in Oxford,” McDonnell said. “It’s just that when I was there, my friend was the baseball program. That was all the time I spent. It was like I was married to that program.”

Today, McDonnell says he’s excited to put his 12-0 Cardinals into a “regional type” setting where they will face some adversity.

Louisville is hitting .331 as a team, while opponents are hitting just .199 against it.

The Cardinals have three regulars hitting .380 or better, led by second baseman Adam Duvall at .400.

Hitting the road

This will be their first trip on the road. Louisville went 3-0 at the neutral site Big East-Big 10 Challenge, defeating Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota in South Florida.

“You knew they would be good,” Bianco said. “They return a lot of good players from last year. They’ve got great offensive numbers and a great ERA. Those guys, those juniors and seniors, have seen a lot of success in their careers at Louisville.”

Indeed they have. Now in his fourth season, McDonnell is 147-63. His first team reached Omaha for the College World Series. His second reached an NCAA regional, his third a super regional.

McDonnell has turned down two SEC jobs, one of them Auburn, another he won’t name but called an “under the radar” program. He cites resources, administrative support and an excited fan base as reasons for his plans to stay at Louisville for a long time.

McDonnell also says lessons learned from Bianco have been a big reason for his early success.

“Everything I do comes from Mike. He is the best coach in college baseball. I know the fans are starving to get to Omaha, and that’s good,” McDonnell said. “You don’t go to Omaha in one year. You go by the way you live, the way you run your program, the way you treat college baseball. I had been living that way for years.”

Contact Parrish Alford at 678-1600 or parrish.alford.com