The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Softball Game Notes
5/2/2003 | Softball
May 2, 2003
Ole Miss (18-32, 7-20 SEC) vs. Tennessee (41-22, 12-14 SEC)
Ole Miss Softball Complex (Oxford, Miss.)
May 3 - Games One & Two, 1 p.m. CST (DH)
May 4 - Game Three, Noon CST (Senior Day)
OPPONENT INFO
Co-Head Coaches: Ralph and Karen Weekly
Record at UT: 76-47-1/2 Years
2003 Record/SEC: 41-22/12-14
Top Hitter: Kristi Durant (Fr., C), .415, 13 2B, 34 RBI
Top Pitcher: Stacey Jennings (Fr., R), 19-13, 1.77 ERA, 8 SHO
MEDIA
Gametracker: | |
Audio: N/A
THIS WEEKEND
Ole Miss (18-32, 7-20 SEC) wraps up its 2003 campaign this weekend with a three-game home series against Tennessee (41-22, 12-14 SEC). Senior Day ceremonies will be held prior to the finale on Sunday and will honor Rebel seniors Julie Baumann, Leslie Day, Phyllis Manley and Lindsay Price. Despite picking up its second top-25 victory of the season in the finale, the Rebels dropped 2-of-3 to No. 18 South Carolina last weekend to fall out of contention for their first SEC Tournament berth. The Lady Volunteeers are sixth in the overall conference standings and have clinched their first SEC Tourney spot since 1999. Tennessee has a 13-2 edge in the all-time series with Ole Miss and swept last year's three-game set in Knoxville, despite a 7-4 slugfest in the opener that saw a school-record total of five home runs. The Rebels claimed the finale of the 2001 series, 4-0, on a Jenn Poore 10th-inning walk-off grand slam - the first grand slam in Rebel history.
LAST TIME OUT
Ole Miss claimed its second major upset in as many weeks and captured the finale of the three-game set with No. 18 South Carolina Sunday, 2-1. Lindsay Price scattered eight hits with six strikeouts in registering her first 10-win season. With one out and two runners on in the seventh inning, Price turned the game over to Leslie Day, who induced a pair of flyouts for her second save of the year. Ole Miss managed all the offense it needed in the first inning. Andrea Brahs drove in a run with a bases-loaded lineout to deep right field, and DeDe Justice then stole home on the tail-end of a double steal. The Gamecocks secured the series win with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday that officially eliminated the Rebels from SEC Tournament contention. The Gamecocks took the opener, 6-2, despite seventh-inning homers by Justice and Rebecca McIntire. USC also hung on in game two, 1-0, despite a complete-game outing by Day on the Rebel mound. Justice totaled four hits.
SCOUTING TENNESSEE
Tennessee snapped a school-record nine-game losing streak Tuesday with a doubleheader sweep at Lipscomb. Despite a 6-for-9 showing by freshman Stacey Jennings, the Lady Volunteers dropped all three to 10th-ranked Georgia last weekend to slide to fourth in the SEC Eastern Division. With a 19-13 pitching mark, Jennings is bidding to become only the second UT rookie to claim 20 wins. She also leads an army of youthful Lady Vols, that field 14 freshmen. First-year third baseman Kristi Durant boasts a team-high .415 batting average and is one hit shy of establishing a new Tennessee freshman record for single-season hits.
SENIOR DAY
Sunday will serve as Senior Day for the Rebels, and there will be a brief ceremony honoring the four Ole Miss seniors prior the the series finale ... Few players have demonstrated the true spirit of a team player more than Julie Baumann (Memphis). A vocal leader on and off the field, Julie has provided her coaches with an assistant, and her teammates with an inspiration. Julie, who has played in 29 games during her career, has been recognized for her dedication with numerous team awards. A pharmacy major, Julie has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll all three years she has been eligible. She is the daughter of Danny and Sandra Baumann ... Leslie Day's (Nesbit, Miss.) career ERA of 2.50 ranks as one of the lowest in Rebel softball history. Since transferring from Belmont in 2001, she has amassed 16 wins and five shutouts. The 2002 campaign saw Leslie turn in one of the finest seasons ever by an Ole Miss pitcher, registering 10 wins, three shutouts and a 1.80 ERA in earning Team MVP status. She earned Academic All-District honors in 2002, and SEC Academic Honor Roll accolades this year. Leslie is the daughter of Larry and Marianne Day ... No one has provided Ole Miss with more leadership over the last four years than Phyllis Manley (Southaven, Miss.). Defensively, she has been a coach on the field and is one of the SEC's all-time leaders in runners picked off. Phyllis has started over 120 games and saved some of her greatest performances for arch-rival Mississippi State, batting .500 over her career against the Bulldogs. This season, she reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances against MSU and notched her second career three-hit game. In 2002, Phyllis was named to the SEC Good Works Team and the SEC Academic Honor Roll. She is the daughter of Pat and Bebbie Beshears ... Lindsay Price (Terry, Miss.) is one of the all-time greats on the Rebel mound with 23 career victories. She has enjoyed her best season this year, tallying career bests and leading the team in wins, complete games, strikeouts, and earned run average. Lindsay has also risen among the top two on the Ole Miss career charts in nearly every pitching category. She is a two-time Academic All-District pick and a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection. A 4.0 student, Lindsay was a finalist for the 2003 H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year, and a co-recipient of the Eugenia Conner Memorial Award, which honors the University's outstanding female student-athlete.
ALL-SEC SOPHOMORES
A pair of second-year Rebels have proven themselves to be All-SEC caliber players in their sophomore year. DeDe Justice has made herself one of the top offensive forces in the conference. The series finale at No. 11 LSU saw the sophomore catcher notch her third two-homer game of the year; no other Rebel has pulled off the feat once. The Vero Beach, Fla., native became the first Rebel to earn SEC Player of the Week status on Mar. 17 after a record six-RBI, two-homer day against Kentucky. For the year, Justice has set a new single-season school record for RBI with 41 and has broken her own UM season high for home runs with 14, including two walk-off long balls to win the Mississippi State series. In SEC play, she heads the conference in homers (10), is third in RBI (24), total bases (58) and walks (16) and fourth in slugging percentage (.744) ... Brooke Turner has emerged as one of the league's best all-around outfielders this season. Offensively, her speed (16-for-16 stolen bases) and power (7 home runs) have made her a tough out whether batting leadoff or in RBI situations. In centerfield, Turner has provided quite a highlight reel while committing only one error with 66 putouts, one of the highest totals among SEC outfielders. The Southaven, Miss., native doubled in the game-tying runs vs. No. 10 Georgia, and gave the Rebels a 6-3 lead over No. 11 LSU with a 10th-inning, three-run homer. Turner is is tied for the team-lead in doubles (10) and is second in batting (.301), home runs (7), RBI (22) and runs (31) ... In the program's seven years of existence, two Rebels have earned All-SEC distinction. Stephanie Vaglica was a second team honoree in 1997, and Amanda Fine was picked second team in 1997 and 1998.
TIDBITS
Senior righthander Leslie Day boasts a 1.54 ERA with two complete games and a save over her last three appearances. The Nesbit, Miss., native limited No. 18 South Carolina to one run on five hits in her last start, and in the following game, she coaxed the final two outs of a 2-1 Rebel win in nailing down her second career save ... When Candi Letts has made the call to the bullpen, she has received success this year with a 4-2 record, two saves and a 2.18 ERA in 23 relief appearances. Dana Brill is 2-0 out of the Rebel pen with one earned run in 11 innings of work. Lindsay Price leads the staff in relief appearances with 14, posting two wins and a save ... Ole Miss has already toppled last year's team record for home runs with 30. Rebecca McIntire's first career long ball against USC made her the fifth Rebel to go deep this season, led by DeDe Justice with her school-record 14. Ole Miss' 22 round-trippers in SEC play ranks fourth-most in the league ... Jordan Chitwood will miss the final series of the year after fracturing a finger during a second-inning bunt attempt in game one of the South Carolina series. The freshman from Chandler, Ariz., has started 37 games this year, splitting time between second and third base.
ACADEMIC ALL-STARS
Ole Miss placed eight student-athletes on the 2003 SEC Softball Academic Honor Roll, tying the Rebels for the second-most selections in the conference. Senior pharmacy majors Lindsay Price and Julie Baumann earned their third award. Price, who boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA, is also a two-time Academic All-Region pick and a 2003 candidate for Academic All-American. First-time honorees to the SEC Honor Roll include senior Leslie Day, juniors Andrea Brahs, Britte Hardy and Desiree Layman and sophomore Megan Kozar. Also on the list was former Rebel Lindsay Whatley.
OH SO CLOSE
Despite a 2-13 record against top-25 competition, Ole Miss has nearly pulled off the upset in several of the losses. On five occasions, the Rebels put the tying run either on base or at the plate in the final frame. Ole Miss also held leads in seven of the defeats, and jumped on top by two or more runs in four of the losses. In the opener at No. 11 LSU, the Rebels took a 6-3 into the bottom of the 10th, only to see the Fighting Tigers collect two homers to tie it, followed by the game-winning long ball in the 11th. In the series with 18th-ranked Alabama, the Rebels outhit the Crimson Tide, 11-10, through the first two games of the set. Ole Miss has dropped 14 contests by two runs or less this season.
SETTING THE TABLE
Since being moved to the leadoff spot in the Rebel batting order, junior Britte Hardy has experienced the finest offensive stretch in her three-year UM career and made herself a legitimate All-SEC candidate in the outfield. Over the last 13 games, Hardy is batting .341 -second on the team - including her first five multiple-hit games of the season. She also notched her first two career doubles. The Peachtree City, Ga., native 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 Ole Miss' six-run game-winning rally against No. 10 Georgia on April 13.
