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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Softball Opens SEC Play With No. 13 Missouri
3/10/2016 | Softball
Ole Miss Game Notes - No. 13 Missouri
Games 24-26
Ole Miss (20-3, 0-0 SEC) vs. No. 13 Missouri (13-3, 0-0 SEC)
Dates: March 11-13, 2016
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Ole Miss Softball Complex
Capacity: 1,000
Dimensions: L-200, C-220, R-200
TV: SEC Network+
Will Kollmeyer, play-by-play
Graham Doty, play-by-play
Brittany McKinney, analyst
Series: Missouri leads, 8-0
Last Series: April 18-19, 2014
Missouri swept, 3-0
Columbia, Mo.
Live stats: OleMissSports.comTwitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball
PROMOTIONS
- Friday, March 11: Long-sleeve t-shirt giveaway
- Saturday, March 12: Free Crawfish
- Sunday, March 13: Color-changing sunglasses giveaway/postgame autographs
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss opens the 2016 league slate this weekend with a three-game set vs. Mizzou in Oxford.
- The Rebels have won a school record 12-straight games heading into the weekend.
- Head coach Mike Smith earned his 50th win as the Rebels' head coach Wednesday, and needs just two wins to reach 800 all-time in his 18-year career.
- Ole Miss is 9-10 all-time in SEC openers and 4-2 in home league openers; the Rebels have won three of their last four SEC openers dating back to the 2012 campaign.
- The Rebels head into the weekend looking for their first-ever win against Mizzou, 0-8 all-time against the Tigers.
- Ole Miss is hosting Missouri for the first time since the 2013 season, and third time overall in a series.
- This weekend's games cap three-straight at home, as the Rebels won't play at home on a weekend until April 8-10.
- Each of the last two series vs. the Tigers have come when Mizzou was ranked in the top-25 (2013: No. 8, 2014: No. 13), and this weekend is no different as the club is ranked 13th in the nation.
- Senior pitcher Madi Osias became the Rebels' all-time saves leader with seven after the Red & Blue Classic; she has also set a new program record for consecutive wins with nine-straight in the circle dating back to Feb. 13.
- Osias has anchored the pitching staff with 10 wins already, just two off her career high and seven away from tying the single-season school record with 34 games left still to play.
- Just one season after setting a new school record in stolen bases (90), the Rebels are on a blistering pace to top that in 2016 with an NCAA-leading 76 already through 23 games. Last weekend in the Red & Blue Classic alone, Ole Miss swiped 29 bags, more than 241 NCAA Division I teams have stolen all season.
- Three Rebel newcomers currently lead the offense in freshman Hailey Lunderman (.493 average, 37 hits), junior transfer Dakota Matiko (.424 average) and freshman Kylan Becker (.412 average).
- Ole Miss' pitching staff has kept opposing hitters well in check on the year with a team ERA of 1.87, and an opposing batting average of .174. Sophomore transfer Elisha Jahnke is a perfect 4-0 on the season with a 1.62 ERA, while Osias' 10-1 record leads the club. Freshman Krista Jacobs is also 1-0 with a 1.62 ERA in 8.2 IP.
- All 24 players on the 2016 roster have seen the field, including all 11 newcomers, six of which are freshmen.
SCOUTING REPORT
Missouri heads into the opening weekend of league play at 13-3 overall, 13th in the country with one less weekend of play than the Rebels. The Tigers were picked to finish seventh according to the league's head coaches in the SEC Preseason Poll, a year after finishing with a 14-10 league record.
Mizzou opened the 2016 campaign with tournament play in Florida and California. The Tigers went 6-0 in Kissimmee, Fla. at the Citrus Classic, notching wins over Jacksonville State, Elon, UAB, College of Charleston, Stephen F. Austin and Stetson. A week later at the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral, Calif., the Tigers went 3-2 with wins over NC State, Colorado State and BYU. Last weekend Mizzou competed in the Judi Garman Tournament in Fullerton and fared 4-1 with wins over San Jose State, California, No. 17 Arizona State and No. 22 Baylor.
The Tigers' offensive numbers rank statistically high in the nation and in the league. The squad's .374 batting average is fourth in the SEC and seventh nationally, while the team's 1.31 HR/game ranks third among SEC schools and 13th in the NCAA. The Tigers also score at an average of 8.69 runs/game, sixth-best in the country, while the .467 on-base percentage is ninth nationally. Mizzou's slugging percentage of .584 ranks fifth in the conference and 11th in the nation. Chloe Rathburn leads the club with six home runs and 25 RBI, while Sami Fagan and Regan Nash's .458 average is tops among the team.
Paige Lowary has started nine games in the circle for the Tigers and is 7-2 on the year with a 4.20 ERA. Danielle Baumgartner's 0.79 ERA leads the way for the pitching staff, as she is 6-1 in five starts in 35.1 innings. Tori Finucane and Cheyenne Baxter have combined to throw 23.2 innings this season.
REBELS IN SEC OPENERS
Despite an all-time SEC win percentage well below .500, the Rebels have won nine of their league openers over the years, including three of the last four dating back to the 2012 season.
The 2014 SEC opener for Ole Miss was one of the biggest wins in program history, as the Rebels knocked off No. 1 Florida in Gainesville, only the second time in program history defeating the nation's top-ranked team. In 2013, Ole Miss handed a 3-1 loss to No. 15 Kentucky, while the 2012 Rebels run-ruled Arkansas, 13-0, in the league opener.
Additionally, the Rebels have only opened the league slate at home six times prior ('99, '01, '04, '06, '07, '10), going 4-2 in league openers at home. This weekend's league-opening series vs. Missouri is the first SEC opener at home for Ole Miss since the 2010 campaign.
REBELS ON FAST PACE TO BREAK STOLEN BASE RECORD
Just one season after setting a new record for stolen bases in a season with 90, Ole Miss is on pace to shatter the record in 2016, with 76 stolen bases already through 23 contests. That number leads the nation by a substantial margin, and is only 14 off tying the school record.
In five games in the Red & Blue Classic, Ole Miss swiped 29 bases, which is more in one weekend that 241 NCAA Division I teams' total all season (as of March 8). Wednesday vs. Youngstown State, the Rebels swiped seven bases, their third-straight game with at least seven.
For all Ole Miss Softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16. Additionally fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.
