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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Softball Treks to South Carolina for Key SEC Series
4/14/2016 | Softball
Ole Miss Game Notes - South Carolina
Games 43-35
Ole Miss (28-14, 4-8 SEC) at South Carolina (31-10, 4-8 SEC)
Dates: April 15-17, 2016
First Pitch: 5 p.m. CT (Friday), 2 p.m. CT (Saturday), 1 p.m. CT (Sunday)
Location: Columbia, S.C.
Venue: Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field
Capacity: 1,480
Dimensions: L-200, C-220, R-200
TV: SEC Network+ (Friday), SEC Network+ (Saturday), SEC Network (Sunday)
Brad Muller (SECN+) | Jenn Hildreth (SECN), play-by-play
Matthew Buning (SECN+) | Jenny Dalton-Hill (SECN), analyst
Series: South Carolina leads, 29-17
Last Series: April 24-26, 2015
South Carolina won 2-of-3
Oxford, Miss.
Live stats: GamecocksOnline.com
Twitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss jumps back into its fifth weekend of SEC play Friday through Sunday at South Carolina.
- The Rebels and Gamecocks head into the three-game series locked with identical league records at 4-8, tied for 10th in the 13-team league. The Rebels, Gamecocks and LSU Tigers all have matching win percentages at .333, while LSU has two more wins in league play at 5-10.
- Ole Miss dropped the series last season, salvaging the middle game of the matchup played in Oxford.
- The Rebels head into Columbia in search of just their second series win against the Gamecocks in games played in South Carolina. The only previous series win in Columbia came back in the 2004 season.
- Ole Miss is in search of its second-straight SEC series win on the road after taking 2-of-3 from Mississippi State two weeks ago.
- Two more wins overall would tie the school record for wins in a season set back in 2015 and 2005.
- Sunday's game will be televised on SEC Network, the Rebels' fourth of seven nationally-televised contests this year.The previous three national TV games resulted in two wins for the Rebs over ULM and Mississippi State.
- Ole Miss tallied record crowds as more than 3,000 fans witnessed the Florida series, setting a new attendance record in the Saturday game at 1,342. Sunday's crowd nearly matched that with an announced mark of 1,267.
- Despite not stealing a base in the last four games, Ole Miss still ranks third overall in the country in stolen bases with a school record 106 in 126 attempts (2.52/game).
- Three of the Rebels' top five hitters are freshmen, led by shortstop Hailey Lunderman's .390 clip and team-best 55 hits, good enough for third-most in the SEC. Ashton Lampton, thanks in part to a .615 clip over the last 10 games, has raised her average to .322, while outfielder Kylan Becker is hitting .286.
- Junior transfer Dakota Matiko returned to the starting lineup in the Rebels' midweek game Wednesday, starting at third base after more than a month's absence due to a broken bone in her wrist.
- Osias, 15-5 on the year in the circle, is just two wins from tying the single-season school record set by Amanda Fine in 1997. She's also inched her way to ninth in career strikeouts (255).
- Ole Miss is one of the youngest teams in the nation with 13 underclassmen, tied for seventh most in the NCAA.
SCOUTING REPORT
South Carolina is led by sixth-year head coach Beverly Smith. The Gamecocks were picked 11th in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll, highlighted by All-SEC Preseason pick Alaynie Page. South Carolina heads into the weekend locked in a three-way tie for 10th in the league standings with the Rebels and LSU.
Much like the Rebels, the Gamecocks cruised through the first month of the season in non-conference with a 19-2 record playing just one ranked team, No. 2 Michigan to open the campaign. Since the start of league play, South Carolina is 12-8 with league series' thus far against No. 17 Kentucky, No. 12 Georgia, No. 3 Auburn and Arkansas. After getting swept against the Wildcats, the Gamecocks took 2-of-3 from the Bulldogs at home. The Gamecocks then went on the road to visit the Tigers and were swept in that series, before again bouncing back to take 2-of-3 from Arkansas last weekend.
As a team the Gamecocks boast a .323 average led by seven hitters at .300 or better. Much like the Rebels, South Carolina hasn't powered out at on of home runs with just 26 on the year. Kaylea Snaer is the team's offensive leader with a .398 clip and 32 RBI, while Page has a team-best seven long balls and 35 runs driven in. Kennedy Clark also has 30+ RBI at 32. The Gamecocks are 46-of-54 in stolen bases this season and have a .972 fielding percentage with 32 errors.
Two Gamecock pitchers in Jessica Elliott and Nickie Blue have carried the load for the pitching staff, combining for all 41 starts thus far. Elliott is 16-2 with a 2.46 ERA in 25 starts, while Blue is 14-8 with a similar 2.49 ERA in 16 starts. Blue has maintained a near 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 90 Ks and 48 walks issued, while Elliott has struggled issuing walks with 75 to her 97 strikeouts. As a staff the Gamecocks have held opposing hitters to a .227 clip and have 12 complete games and 10 shutouts.
ON DECK
Following the series in South Carolina, Ole Miss returns to the Ole Miss Softball Complex for a five-game homestand beginning Tuesday versus Memphis at 6 p.m.
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.
