The University of Mississippi Athletics
Softball Travels To Knoxville To Face Sixth-Ranked Lady Vols
4/13/2006 | Softball
April 13, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss softball team continues a string of top-25 ranked opponents this weekend when the Rebels travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on the No. 6-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers in a three-game series.
The games will mark the ninth, 10th and 11th straight for the Rebels against a top-25 ranked opponent. Game times are set for 1 and 3 p.m. EST on Saturday and 1 p.m. EST on Easter Sunday.
Ole Miss most recently knocked off No. 25 Mississippi State for the second time in as many weeks with a 6-5 win in Oxford on Tuesday. Junior Mary Jane Callahan pitched a complete game to earn the win and helped her own cause by going 2-for-2 at the plate with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. She was one of four Rebels to collect a pair of hits, as the team racked up a season high-tying 11 hits in the contest.
The Rebels, who have compiled a 15-28 overall record and 3-14 mark in Southeastern Conference action, will do their best to match up with the Lady Vols, who sit at 38-6 overall and 9-6 in league play. In SEC action, Tennessee has been swept by Alabama, lost twice to Florida and lost once to Auburn.
"Despite our rough season so far, we still have a legitimate shot of going to the SEC Tournament for the first time in program history," said first-year Ole Miss head coach Missy Dickerson.
Ole Miss has been led all season at the plate by freshman shortstop Lisa Conchos and sophomore second baseman Lauren Rowe. Conchos leads the team with a .331 batting average, 18 runs scored, a .374 on-base percentage and 11 multiple-hit games. Rowe is hitting at a .270 clip and leads the squad with five home runs, 22 RBI and a .486 slugging percentage.
Senior right-hander Dana Brill and Callahan are the workhorses in the circle. Each pitcher has seven victories. Brill leads the staff with a 2.83 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 111 1/3 innings pitched, while Callahan has notched 18 complete games in 21 starts and has 106 strikeouts in 144 1/3 innings.
Tennessee has put up some astonishing statistics through 44 games of the season. As of Sunday, the Lady Vols were tops in the nation in both team batting average and team earned run average.
Sarah Fekete leads the SEC with a .496 batting average and is one of five Lady Volunteers hitting over .400. Two-time All-American pitcher Monica Abbott is fourth in the conference with a 0.59 ERA and has struck out a league-high 343 batters.
"Tennessee is really an amazing team," Dickerson said. "With a .365 team batting average and a 0.79 ERA, you're not going to lose too many games. We will have to play our best to stay with them."
The Lady Vols lead the all-time series against the Rebels 19-3, including a perfect 9-0 mark in Knoxville. Tennessee swept Ole Miss in last year's series by scores of 4-0, 3-1 and 9-0.
