The University of Mississippi Athletics
Softball Looks for SEC Tournament Bid
6/21/1999 | Softball
April 23, 1998
OXFORD, Miss.- Coming off a weekend that saw the Ole Miss fastpitch team take three-of-four games from Auburn to vault itself back into contention for the upcoming Southeastern Conference Tournament, the Rebels are looking to make a late push starting this weekend.
Winners of its last five-of-six SEC contests, Ole Miss (24-36, 7-17 SEC) will travel to Starkville, Miss., to face rival Mississippi State (27-18, 10-10 SEC) in a doubleheader Saturday at MSU Softball Field, starting at 11 a.m.
"We still have our work cut out for us," Ole Miss coach Joyce Maudie said. "I am excited with how we have been playing and competing lately, but we want to continue that and finish off our last six games strong."
Ole Miss has six games left on its regular-season schedule, beginning with two games against the Bulldogs before returning to Oxford for a four-game set with Arkansas Tuesday and Wednesday at Rebel Softball Stadium.
The top eight teams in league play will advance to the SEC Tournament, which will be held May 8-10 in Columbus, Ga. Arkansas currently holds the No. 8 position with eight conference wins while Ole Miss is ninth with seven SEC wins. Georgia holds the seventh position with eight wins as well.
The Rebels know, however, that to move past Arkansas or Georgia, they will have to sustain a strong effort over the final week, and that begins this weekend with the two-game set with Mississippi State. That is no easy feat considering the Bulldogs handed Ole Miss a pair of losses back on April 1 at Rebel Stadium.
"MSU really came out with a lot of emotion and showed why they wanted to win," Maudie said. "I hope we come out with that same desire and determination this weekend. It will be a battle."
Since handing the Rebels 7-0 and 5-3 losses back on April 1, the Bulldogs have struggled as they won only three of their last 10 SEC games. The Bulldogs are led by Keri McCallum, who is hitting .407 for the season with 57 hits in 43 games. Michelle Gates is also swinging a hot bat, averaging .392 for the season and .406 in SEC games. The pitching staff is led by Autumn Anderson, who is 19-10 on the season with a stellar 1.10 earned-run average.
The Rebels counter with sophomore pitcher Amanda Fine, who has won her last five-straight starts and has lowered her team-leading ERA to 2.01. Ole Miss will also look to freshman Jamie Cummings to provide a spark offensively. Last week, the Jackson native hit .444 with three doubles and had an on-base percentage of .524 over six games.
