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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Hosts Kentucky in First SEC Home Softball Series
3/21/2002 | Softball
March 21, 2002
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OXFORD, Miss. - After a week of non-conference action, Ole Miss looks for its first SEC softball victory of the season against Kentucky this weekend in the Rebels' first three-game league homestand. Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's finale both begin at 1 p.m. CST each day at Ole Miss Softball Complex.
With a 15-8 overall record (0-3 SEC), the Rebels have tied the 1999 squad for the best 23-game start in the program's six-year history. A series win against the Wildcats (15-11, 1-2 SEC) would move the current UM club ahead of that team's pace.
Ole Miss recorded a perfect 4-0 mark last weekend at the Rebel Games in Kissimmee, Fla. The Rebels continued their home run parade with five more as a team, including the first collegiate shots from freshmen Brooke Turner and Nicole Alger.
Turner, a centerfielder from Southaven, Miss., batted 5-for-13 with two homers and six RBI in the tournament. Tulsa native Alger was the Rebels' top hitter (.462) in addition to tossing a three-hit shutout against Wisconsin-Green Bay in her first career start from the mound.
Junior Leslie Day added a two-hit shutout of Vermont as all four Rebel hurlers pitched complete games without allowing more than one run in each outing.
Ole Miss had been scheduled to play a doubleheader at Tennessee-Martin on Thursday, but the twin bill was postponed (to May 1) due to wet weather and conditions in the Martin area.
Kentucky enters the series as losers in three of their last four, including a 1-2 series loss at Florida last weekend. The Wildcats were to host Tennessee Tuesday and Wednesday in a midweek SEC series, but all three games were rained out. UK sits fourth in the SEC Eastern Division standings, and is the only East team with just one series under its belt.
Kentucky ranks among the conference's top three offensive squads with a .298 team average. Among the leaders is junior second baseman Nikki Jones who is batting .384 with 11 RBI and recently finished a 14-game hitting streak. Senior infielder Andy Eilertson boasts a team-high five homers and 21 RBI.
Ole Miss leads the all-time series with Kentucky 10-3. After winning the first eight meetings, the Rebels have dropped three of the last five, and came out on the low end of the 2001 three-game set in Lexington, 1-2. Prior to last year, Ole Miss had never lost a season series with the Wildcats.
Live Stats for all three games of the series will be available online at www.OleMissSports.com.
