The University of Mississippi Athletics
This Week In Softball
5/1/2001 | Softball
May 1, 2001
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Southern Illinois (Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
Wednesday, May 2
vs. Southern Illinois, 5 p.m. (CT)
THIS WEEK'S AGENDA
Ole Miss (18-39, 5-22 SEC) closes out its 2001 season Wednesday against Southern Illinois. The game will be played at the Southeast Softball Complex in Cape Girardeau, Mo., at 5 p.m. (CT). The Rebels finished SEC play last weekend with a three-game series sweep at the hands of No. 5 LSU in Baton Rouge. Ole Miss is 0-4 all-time in season finales, falling to Arkansas in all four games.
Challenging for the Missouri Valley Conference crown, Southern Illinois (34-15, 17-7 MVC) enters as winners in five of their last seven games. All-America candidate Erin Stremsterfer is carrying the Salukis on her back. On the mound, the senior righthander is 26-7 with a 0.67 ERA and 11 shutouts. At the plate, Stremsterfer leads the team with a .299 average with seven doubles, six homers and 22 RBI.
Ole Miss is 2-2 against MVC foes this season.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Ole Miss is 1-2 all-time against SIU, but has not faced the Salukis since the 1998 season. The teams split their two meetings that season, with Southern winning, 8-4, at the Mardi Gras Invitational, and Ole Miss rolling, 4-0, at the Florida State Invitational.
NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
Ole Miss is 13-17 vs. non-Southeastern Conference opponents this season, facing the likes of No. 8 Cal State-Fullerton, No. 15 Iowa, 2000 College World Series participant Southern Miss and three teams - Texas Tech, New Mexico and Kansas - that are receiving votes in the latest top 25 national poll. In the five-year history of the program, the Rebels are 76-89 outside the SEC.
This year, Ole Miss is hitting 50 points higher in non-conference play than in SEC games at .242, and the team ERA is more than a run lower at 2.37. Jennifer Poore leads the squad in non-league games with a .361 average and 14 RBI. Jessica Hamilton is hitting .326 and Jamie Cummings .260. Desiree Layman and Kristi DiMarco are both batting .250 with a homer and 12 and 10 RBI, respectively.
Jennifer Hughes boasts a 6-6 mark with a 1.43 ERA and four shutouts in non-conference action. Lindsay Price is 4-5 with a 2.80 ERA.
LSU SERIES
SEC-leading and fifth-ranked LSU swept Ole Miss in their three-game set last weekend in Baton Rouge, wrapping up conference play for the Rebels. LSU took game one, 8-0, on Britney Sneed's fourth career no-hitter. Jennifer Hughes scattered 10 hits and struck out seven in the loss.
In the second game, Ole Miss hurler Lindsay Price held the Tigers scoreless through three innings, before LSU ignited for four runs in the fourth en route to an 8-1 win. Ole Miss plated a run in the sixth when Holly Burris drove home Amanda Lehotak with her team-high 13th double of the season. Desiree Layman also notched a hit for the Rebels.
Ole Miss jumped on the board first in the finale with a run in the first inning. Amanda Lehotak walked and then scored on a Jennifer Poore double to left field. Poore ended her eight-game hitless streak with a 2-for-2 day. LSU responded with a three in the bottom of the first and added four more in the third and again in the fourth to earn the eight-run mercy rule, 11-1.
REBELS AMONG SEC LEADERS
A number of Ole Miss players rank among the SEC leaders in several statistical categories.
Defensively, the Rebels boast two of the top outfielders in Jamie Cummings and Jessica Hamilton, who each have perfect 1.000 percentages. Desiree Layman is fifth among SEC second basemen with a .943 fielding percentage, while Rachel Davenport at first base has fielded the fifth most double plays with nine. Behind the plate, Jennifer Poore leads the league in runners picked off with 10 and ranks third in runners caught stealing with 17. Phyllis Manley is second in pickoffs with seven.
Offensively, Holly Burris is tied for fourth in doubles with 13, and tied for first in SEC games only with eight. Amanda Lehotak ranks sixth in sacrifice bunts with 11, and is tied for second in league game triples with two. Cummings is eighth in at-bats with 176.
From the mound, Jennifer Hughes is eighth in strikeouts with 126, and tied for eighth in strikeouts-looking with 31. She also ranks 10th in innings-pitched with 170.1. Lindsay Price is 10th in strikeouts-looking in SEC play with 12.
