The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Softball Game Notes
4/17/2003 | Softball
April 17, 2003
Ole Miss (17-27, 6-15 SEC) vs. No. 11 LSU (35-11, 11-6 SEC)
Tiger Park (Baton Rouge, La.)
Friday, April 18 - Games One & Two, 5:30 p.m. CST (DH)
Saturday, April 19 - Game Three, 1 p.m. CST
OPPONENT INFO
Head Coach: Yvette Girouard
Record at LSU: 150-33/Three Years
2003 Record/SEC: 35-11/11-6
Top Hitter: Camille Harris (Fr., OF), .317, 4 HR, 23 RBI
Top Pitcher: Kristin Schmidt (Jr., R), 21-9, 0.87 ERA, 10 SHO
MEDIA
Audio:
Livestats: www.LSUSports.net
THIS WEEKEND
Ole Miss (17-27, 6-15 SEC) faces its fourth top-25 foe in its last five opponents this weekend against 11th-ranked LSU (35-11, 11-6 SEC) in Baton Rouge. The Rebels are coming off a dramatic 3-3 homestand last week, with all three victories coming in the final at-bat. Ole Miss claimed its first season-series win over Mississippi State since 1999, rallying to take games two and three of the set. The Rebels also salvaged the finale of the weekend series with No. 10 Georgia, 6-5, with six unanswered runs over the final two frames. Ole Miss enters this weekend ninth in the SEC Tournament race, three games behind Auburn for the final tourney spot. LSU is fourth in the overall conference standings and second in the Western Division. The Tigers boast a 20-2 all-time edge in the series, and have won 13 straight over the Rebels. Ole Miss was held scoreless in last year's three-game set in Oxford, but made strong upset bids in each game, 1-0, 4-0 and 3-0. Leslie Day limited the Tigers to one run on six hits in the 2002 series opener.
LAST TIME OUT
After dropping two tight battles in games two and three, Ole Miss pulled off an improbably 6-5 upset over 10th-ranked Georgia in the finale. Trailing 5-0, the Rebels rallied for six runs over the final two innings, including three runs with two outs in the seventh. DeDe Justice ignited the Ole Miss offense in the sixth inning with a three-run homer. Still behind 5-3 in the seventh, the Rebels pushed the tying runs to second and third base with two outs, when Brooke Turner laced a double just inside the leftfield line to plate both runs and knot the game at 5-5. After an intentional walk was issued to Justice, Andrea Brahs lined a double down the rightfield line to send home Turner for the game-winning run. Ole Miss freshman Dana Brill held the Bulldogs scoreless over the final 2.1 frames in registering her second win of the week in relief. The Rebels dropped game one, 1-0, despite six-plus innings of scoreless relief by Lindsay Price. Game two was a 7-5 Dawg victory, although Justice and Turner notched home runs.
SCOUTING LSU
Four-time defending SEC Champion LSU is having a down year by Tiger standards, slipping to fourth in the conference overall. However, the 11th-ranked Bayou Bengals are the hottest team in the league with a nine-game win streak. All-SEC righthander Kristin Schmidt has spearheaded the LSU surge, tossing 26 consecutive scoreless innings at one point. On the year, Schmidt has ranked among the nation's best arms with a 0.87 ERA, a 21-9 record and nine shutouts. After seeing limited action her first two seasons in the Purple and Gold, junior second baseman Sara Fitzgerald has swung one of the club's most potent bats with a .312 average, 14 doubles and 29 RBI.
JUSTICE FOR ALL
Every opposing pitcher that faced DeDe Justice last week knew they were in big trouble, especially when the game was on the line. The sophomore catcher went on a tear in last week's six games, batting .412 (7-for-17) with five home runs and 10 RBI. Against Mississippi State, Justice launched game-winning, walk-off homers to decide games two and three and the series. Game two with the Bulldogs saw the Vero Beach, Fla., native notch her second two-homer game of the year, tie the school record for hits with four and set a new standard for total bases with 11. In addition, Justice went deep twice in the series with 10th-ranked Georgia, including a three-run blast in the finale that spurred a six-run, game-winning rally. With her incredible week, Justice set a new single-season school record for RBI with 37 and tied her own UM season high for home runs with 11. She has also risen to second in the SEC in slugging percentage (.690) and homers and top 10 in RBI, on-base percentage (.430) total bases (87) and walks (23). Justice ranks second in home runs (7) and RBI (20) in league play.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Home may be where the heart is, but the road is where the stats have been for the Rebels. Through 33 games (14 on the road), the Rebels are batting .259 away from home, compared to .222 at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. Four Rebels are batting above .300 on the road. Junior shortstop Desiree Layman is batting .410 on the road, compared to .116 at home. Andrea Brahs and Mandy Ott are both batting .333 in away games, and Rebecca McIntire is batting .316 on the road. Also, six of Jenny Cox's ten walks have come away from home.
SETTING THE TABLE
Since being moved to the leadoff spot in the Rebel batting order, senior leftfieler Britte Hardy has helped spur the Rebels to three victories. Hardy is batting .391 in the seven games since the move, including multiple-hit games against Alabama, Mississippi State, and Georgia. She tallied a double and a triple in the Rebels' 10-8 victory over Mississippi State on April 10, and also scored the first run of the Rebels' six-run game-winning rally against No. 10 Georgia on April 13.
MILESTONE VICTORY
The Rebels' 6-5 come-from-behind victory in the Georgia finale marked not only one of the greatest comebacks in Ole Miss fastpitch history but also one of the program's most signifigant wins. The No. 10 Bulldogs tied the highest-ranked opponent the Rebels have ever defeated. During the 2000 season, Ole Miss also knocked off No. 10 Southern Miss in a 3-2, 11-inning affair.
DEJA VU
Last weekend's Georgia series was nearly a carbon copy of last year's set in Athens, when Ole Miss also narrowly fell in games one and two only to rally for an upset of the ranked Bulldogs on Sunday. Just like in game three this season, the 2002 finale saw the Rebels rally for six unanswered runs, opened by a DeDe Justice home run. Justice's homer vs. UGA last Sunday marked her UM season-record 11th of the campaign, as was also the case a year ago. This year, Brooke Turner's two-out double chased in two runs to tie the game in the seventh and final inning. Last year, Turner's two-out double drove in three runs to give the Rebels the lead in the eighth and final frame. The 6-5 win over the 10th-ranked Bulldogs was Ole Miss' first top-25 triumph of 2003, while the 6-3 victory over the 25th-ranked Dawgs was also the Rebels' first win over a ranked foe a season ago.
DOG CATCHERS
After seven straight losses to their in-state nemesis, the Rebels reversed their fortunes against Mississippi State with dramatic victories in the final two games of the set to claim their first series win over the rival Bulldogs since 1999. DeDe Justice blasted game-winning, walk-off home runs to decide each game of the Apr. 10 twin bill. After suffering the worst loss in program history in game one, 14-0, Ole Miss swept the doubleheader to snap a seven-game skid and pick up its second SEC series win of the year. As a club, Ole Miss ripped three homers in each game, tying the single-game school record twice. Justice totaled three on the day, while Andrea Brahs belted two and Brooke Turner one. In the finale, Justice batted 4-for-4 with five RBI and went deep twice for the second time this year. Brahs homered in each game of the Thursday doubleheader, including a first-inning grand slam - her second of 2003 - in game three.
MANLEY GETS UP FOR ARCHRIVAL
Senior catcher Phyllis Manley went on a tear against in-state nemesis Mississippi State on April 9 and 10, batting .714 (5 of 7) in the three-game set. The Southaven native reached base in her first eight plate appearances, and also tallied eight putouts during the series. Performing well against MSU is nothing new to Manley, who boasts a career average of .500 (11-for-22) against the Bulldogs.
AWARD WINNER
Lindsay Price was recently chosen among 24 student-athletes, one male and one female from each conference school, as recipients of an SEC $5,000 post-graduate scholarship and as finalists for the 2002-03 H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, which was given to Alabama gymnast Kristin Sterner and Florida basketball player Matt Bonner. Price was also recently selected, along with Ole Miss tennis player Mira Radu, as a 2003 co-recipient of the Eugenia Conner Memorial Award, which honors the University's outstanding female student-athlete. Price is making her final season in the Red and Blue her finest. The senior from Terry, Miss., has already set a new season high for victories with nine, and she currently ranks top 10 in the SEC in strikeouts, strikeouts-looking and innings pitched. Price recently concluded a school-record streak for consecutive complete games with 16, and she has risen to second all-time in UM career complete games, innings, strikeouts saves. She is third in wins.
