The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Wraps Up Successful Softball Season At South Carolina
5/1/2002 | Softball
May 1, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss closes out its 2002 softball season this weekend with a three-game set at South Carolina. Heavy rains in the Columbia area have tentatively pushed Saturday's doubleheader start time to 5 p.m. ET. Sunday's finale begins at noon at Beckham Field.
Despite a late-season slump, Ole Miss (25-26, 7-20 SEC) is wrapping up the finest campaign in the program's six-year history, and this weekend, looks to finish it with a winning record. The Rebels have already secured their highest single-season winning percentage and need only one more victory to tie the UM season high for wins.
"It's really important for this young team to finish on a winning note," said Ole Miss head coach Candi Letts. "We're seeing a South Carolina team with a lot to play for, so they'll definitely be motivated. But if we can get off to a good start and play as hard as we did against LSU, we have a chance to take the series."
Despite three complete-game performances on the mound, Ole Miss suffered a sweep at the hands of third-ranked LSU last weekend in Oxford. The three-game setback pushed the Rebels below the .500 mark for the first time this year and eliminated them from SEC Tournament contention.
Leslie Day was the tough-luck loser in game one, scattering six hits in a 1-0 complete-game defeat - Ole Miss' fifth 1-0 loss of the season. A junior from Nesbit, Miss., Day was the top award winner at last Sunday's 2002 banquet, capturing Team MVP as well as Most Improved Player honors. After compiling a 1-2 mark in nine appearances a year ago, Day leads the Ole Miss staff this season with a 1.78 ERA, 10 wins and three shutouts.
Jessica Hamilton also took home hardware. The fourth-year outfielder earned the Rebel Rouser Award, given to the most unselfish team player, and the C. Lee Roy Mullins Award, presented for perseverance and courage in the face of adversity.
South Carolina (36-16, 17-10 SEC) sits in the driver's seat of the SEC Eastern Division entering the final weekend of the regular season. The Lady Gamecocks, who have risen as high as 20th in the national rankings, need only one win to secure their fourth East title and a No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.
USC dropped two-of-three to No. 15 Alabama last weekend for only its third series loss of the year. Adrianna Baggetta accounted for seven of the Cocks' 11 runs vs. the Tide and connected on her 10th career homer to move into seventh on the Carolina all-time list.
A senior outfielder, Baggetta has been one of USC's top offensive weapons in conference play, batting .338 with four home runs and 13 RBI in SEC action. Overall, sophomore shortstop Amber Curtis totals team-highs in doubles (10), homers (4) and RBI (27).
Meanwhile, two-time All-SEC hurler Megan Matthews remains one of the league's best, recording a 1.25 ERA, a 20-6 record and 11 shutouts on the year.
South Carolina leads the all-time series 8-1, with the lone Ole Miss triumph coming in game one of a 2000 doubleheader in Columbia. In one of only two career matchups with the Rebels, Matthews fell on the losing end for the 17th-ranked Lady 'Cocks in a 1-0 nine-inning affair.
All three games of last year's series in Oxford were rained out.
