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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Softball Hosts No. 9 LSU To Open SEC Play
3/8/2007 | Softball
Saturday is “Faculty/Staff Day” at the ballpark. All members of the Ole Miss faculty and staff will receive four complimentary tickets for admission upon arrival at the 1 p.m. doubleheader. Sunday’s 1 p.m. series finale is a “sweet deal” for Rebel fans, as all in attendance will receive free cotton candy courtesy of Rebel Sports Marketing.
Ole Miss has won four of its last five contests to improve to 8-13 overall entering the conference slate. The Rebels will face a tough task against No. 9 LSU, who enters the weekend with a 22-3 overall mark. The Tigers have lost two of their last three, though, with a pair of defeats on the road at No. 14 Washington.
“I think our early schedule has prepared us for SEC play,” said Ole Miss head coach Missy Dickerson. “With the number of quality teams we’re going to face in conference, that was the whole purpose of the tough preseason schedule. The way I see it now is we are 0-0. We need to come out against LSU and set the tone early and play like we did against Southern Miss on Sunday. We have been talking about bringing together all three components (hitting, pitching and defense), and that was really the first time all year we have had all three in one game.”
The Rebels have established a powerful offensive lineup in the early going. Ole Miss has already hit 18 home runs through 21 games after the team notched 10 long balls through 60 games of the entire 2006 campaign. The current total of 18 is already fourth-most in school history, and the Rebels show no signs of stopping as they have knocked at least one out of the park in each of the last five contests.
Freshman third baseman Lauren Grill is the team leader with a .356 batting average, seven home runs, 12 runs scored, a .797 slugging percentage and a .449 on-base percentage. She enters the weekend boasting a school-record 12-game hitting streak.
Senior Mary Jane Callahan boasts a team-high 14 RBI with a .340 average, while she is also the team’s ace in the pitcher’s circle with a 5-4 record, 1.32 ERA and 55 strikeouts. The team captain is one win shy of tying Amanda Fine’s school record of 40 career victories.
LSU is ranked in the top 10 for the fifth straight week to begin the season. The Tigers are batting .362 as a team, led by junior catcher Killian Roessner’s .510 average. The pitching staff has a combined 1.20 ERA, while all four hurlers own a sub-1.60 ERA. Sophomore Dani Hofer has compiled a team-high 99 strikeouts.
Ole Miss last defeated the rival Tigers in 1999. The Rebels will be looking for a reversal of fortune from years past as they trail in the all-time series 32-2. Ole Miss was swept by LSU in last year’s three-game series, including a 2-1 loss in the back end of the Saturday doubleheader.
