OXFORD, Miss. - Fresh off picking up a pair of wins over No. 12 Tennessee and their first ever series win over the Lady Vols, the Ole Miss Rebels will face a pair of non-conference teams this week, hosting the Central Arkansas Bears on Wednesday before traveling to Jacksonville State on Thursday for a game against the Gamecocks.
The Rebels will face off against Central Arkansas in a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. It will be Ole Miss’ final home game of the season. The Rebels will then travel to Jacksonville, Ala. for a single game against the Gamecock at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Lisa Conchos and Ashley Dowdy both hit solo homers in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Rebels a 7-6 victory over Tennessee on Senior Day at the Ole Miss Softball Complex and pushed the Rebels back into the SEC Tournament picture.
Sophomore Lindsey Perry allowed only one run and Conchos smashed a two-run home run as Ole Miss knocked off Tennessee 4-1 on Saturday. Perry scattered five hits over 7.0 innings and allowed only one run, an RBI ground out in the seventh, as she picked up her fifth victory of the season. She struck out a season-high seven batters in her sixth complete game of the season.
Dowdy led the Rebels at the plate batting .429 with a team-best 1.143 slugging percentage on the week with three homers and six RBI. She also smashed a three-run homer in the Rebels' win 7-3 over Southern Miss on Tuesday. Dowdy increased her season home run total from four to seven and moved into fifth all-time at Ole Miss in home runs.
Central Arkansas enters the mid-week tilt with a 22-24 overall record and is 12-12 in the Southland Conference. They are led by junior Sarah Garcia, who is batting .299 on the season. Ole Miss won the only previous meeting 6-2 a year ago in Oxford.
Jacksonville State won a meeting between the two teams a week ago and leads the all-time series 2-1. Ole Miss won last year’s meeting 2-1 in Oxford. The Gamecocks are currently 30-9 on the season and are 14-1 in the Ohio Valley. They are led junior Nikki Preir, who is batting a team-high .473 with 10 homers and 43 RBI.
