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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Softball To Open Season At Louisiana Classics
2/8/2006 | Softball
Feb. 8, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - The Missy Dickerson era of Ole Miss Softball will get underway this weekend as the Rebels travel to Lafayette, La., for the 20th annual Louisiana Classics hosted by the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette.
Ole Miss will play six games in the tournament, with two each against Grambling State, Memphis and Louisiana-Lafayette.
Dickerson and her staff, which includes assistant coaches Tom McLauchlin and McKewn Dannelly, are excited about their first season at the helm in Oxford.
"We are very excited for the start of the season," said Dickerson, who led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to three consecutive Big South Championships and three straight NCAA Tournament berths in her first head coaching job. "The girls have put in a lot of hard work to prepare for what's ahead of us."
The Rebels' roster is full of experience, as the team returns 12 letterwinners from last year's 30-28 squad that finished ninth overall in the SEC and fifth in the West, including the top hitter and pitcher in junior Mary Jane Callahan, who batted .371 and registered a school-record 1.49 ERA a year ago.
Among the four seniors and six juniors on this year's club is senior right-hander Dana Brill, who notched a 1.56 ERA in 2005, which was good for the second best in school history.
Infielder Lauren Rowe returns after a solid freshman campaign that saw her lead the team with 11 doubles and place second with five home runs.
The Rebels will have to replace some of last year's offensive production that came from departed seniors DeDe Justice and Brooke Turner, and Chloe Kloezeman, who transferred to California. Justice finished her collegiate career as the Rebels' all-time leader in six offensive categories, including 49 home runs, which currently ranks as the second most in SEC history. Turner, the Rebels' leadoff hitter, finished with the all-time school mark in stolen bases, while Kloezeman was the third-leading hitter last year with a .289 average.
Ole Miss will begin the 2006 season facing off against a Grambling State team that struggled to a 3-57 record last season. Ole Miss dropped the only game it has played against the Lady Tigers, with a 2-4 loss on Feb. 18, 1997. This season's first contest is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday.
The second game of the season pits the Rebels against geographical rival Memphis in the Lady Tigers' first-ever collegiate fastpitch softball game at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. Memphis is coached by Windy Thees, who guided Division II Georgia College & State University to a national runner-up finish in 2003. Their team consists of seven collegiate transfers and eight newcomers straight out of high school.
Ole Miss will square off against No. 18 Louisiana-Lafayette at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Ragin' Cajuns have won six straight Sun Belt Championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament seven straight times, including a Women's College World Series appearance in 2003. They are led by two-time All-American Danyele Gomez, who hit 20 home runs (seventh in NCAA) and knocked in 65 RBI (tied for third in NCAA) last season. The Rebels are 0-6 all-time versus Louisiana-Lafayette.
"I don't really know too much about Grambling, and Memphis is a new program, but Louisiana-Lafayette has had a great program and a long tradition," Dickerson said. "The tournament should be a challenge and big test for this team."
The Rebels will see each opponent again, with games vs. Grambling State at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, vs. Memphis at 10 a.m. on Sunday and vs. Louisiana-Lafayette at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
For live statistics and updated tournament information, visit Louisiana-Lafayette's official softball website.
