The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels, Blazers Set for SEC Network Tilt Wednesday
4/26/2016 | Softball
Game 50
Ole Miss (34-15, 9-9 SEC) vs. UAB (22-24, 12-6 C-USA)
Date: April 27, 2016
First Pitch: 6 p.m.
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Ole Miss Softball Complex
Capacity: 1,000
Dimensions: L-200, C-220, R-200
TV: SEC Network
Jenn Hildreth, play-by-play
Kayla Braud, analyst
Series: UAB leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 28, 2013
UAB won 5-3
Honolulu, Hawaii
Live stats: Twitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball
PROMOTIONS (FREE admission to all Ole Miss Softball home games)
- $1 Hot Dogs and Popcorn
LEADING OFF
- With a school record 34 wins under their belts, Ole Miss plays its 50th game of 2016 Wednesday.
- The nationally-televised game is the Rebels' sixth of seven this season, faring 3-2 in the previous five.
- Ole Miss and UAB will be meeting for the third time in school history Wednesday night.
- The Rebels are in search of their first win over the Blazers, dropping the previous two meetings in 2011 & 2013.
- Ole Miss enters the midweek matchup winners of four-straight after a weekend sweep over Arkansas.
- Wednesday's contest is the final home midweek tilt for the Rebels with only eight regular season games left.
- With four tries left, Ole Miss is looking for its first 20-win season at home after breaking the old record of 16.
- Even with a perfect 4-0 record last week, the Rebels dropped one spot to No. 30 in this week's NCAA RPI.
- Ole Miss' remaining opponents are ranked No. 51 (UAB), No. 19 (Georgia), No. 94 (Louisiana Tech) and No. 13 (Tennessee) in the latest RPI.
- The Rebels are coming off a thrilling, come-from-behind victory over Arkansas on Sunday when they rallied from a 5-1, seventh inning deficit to win 6-5.
- Freshman Hailey Lunderman, a Top 25 finalist for Schutt Sport/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year, continues to pace the Rebs with a .378 average and 62 hits, just six away from breaking the single season record.
- Junior Miranda Strother is also on the brink of two single season records, just three runs and five stolen bases from setting new single season marks entering Wednesday.
- Senior Madi Osias, 17-6 on the year, needs just one win to break the single season record set back in 1997.
- Sophomore Kayla Landwehrmier earned her fourth save last Saturday, also tying a single season record.
- The Rebels rank second in the SEC in sacrifice bunts at 35, led by seven each from Elantra Cox and Kylan Becker.
- Ole Miss has been one of the better teams in the league defensively all season, ranking second in fielding percentage (.976), fourth in assists (400) and third in putouts (979) with just 34 errors committed.
- As a team the Rebels are hitting .293 with runners in scoring position, led by Dakota Matiko's .433 clip.
- 91 of Ole Miss' 203 RBI this season have come with two outs led by Strother's 12 and 11 from Courtney Syrett.
- The Rebels' school record 122 stolen bases rank second in the league and fifth in the NCAA.
SCOUTING REPORT
UAB is led by 17-year head coach Marla Townsend. The Blazers are 22-24 overall on the year, but 12-6 in Conference USA play, winners of six of their last 10 games. The Green and Gold is 8-8 in games away from its home stadium and is coming off a three-game sweep over UTEP in El Paso last weekend.
The Blazers are 4-6 against common Ole Miss opponents this season, earning wins over Belmont, Southern Miss and Mississippi State. UAB dropped contests to Central Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Samford, Troy and Southern Miss, teams the Rebels fared 5-6 against.
UAB boasts two Preseason All-C-USA selections and the defending C-USA Player of the Year in shortstop Caitlin Attfield, as well as Sara Beth Williamson. Attfield, a recent pick in the NPF Draft, is the team's offensive leader with a .368 average and 56 hits. She's also the club leader in stolen bases with 13 and has drawn 17 walks with just three strikeouts. JoJo Fallen is also hitting .368 with three home runs and 26 RBI, and has knocked 14 extra-base hits. Mary Warren paces the team in home runs (10) and RBI (30), while Ashley Johnson has chipped in with four long balls and 25 RBI.
Cara Goodwin has anchored the Blazers' pitching staff with a 12-7 record on the year and 3.55 ERA. The junior has started 17 games, 11 of which she went the distance, holding opposing hitters to a .233 average. She's averaged a 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ration with 107 strikeouts and just 49 walks. Megan Smith has tossed 81 innings for UAB and is 3-8 with a 5.44 ERA in 15 starts. She's allowed 63 earned runs off 131 hits and 44 walks, striking out 41 thus far. Madison Hir has contributed with 13 starts on the year, and is 6-8 with a 6.16 ERA in 58 innings. As a team the Blazers have committed just 34 errors for a .976 fielding percentage, one of the tops in the NCAA.
FINDING THE RIGHT LINEUP COMBO
Through 49 games, Ole Miss has only had identical batting orders in consecutive games just twice times all season. In the Kentucky series, the Rebels sent out the same order in the final two games against the No. 13 Wildcats, with the only difference being two players at two different positions, but still in the same lineup order. Ole Miss had identical batting orders in the South Carolina finale and Memphis midweek, before matching the order again in the first two games of the Arkansas series.
REBELS SHATTER OVERALL, HOME WIN RECORDS
It took just 46 games to make history with the 2016 edition of the Rebel softball team, as Ole Miss eclipsed the 31-win mark for the first time in program history after Tuesday's victory over Memphis. The Rebels have also won 19 games at home, a new school record. Ole Miss needs two wins in the remaining SEC slate to tie the record for league wins in a season, and just one road victory to become the first team in program history to reach double-digit win marks in away games.
ERASING THE DEFICIT
Just once all year entering the Arkansas series, Ole Miss had rallied from a seventh inning deficit. But, the Rebels changed that in the finale versus the Razorbacks on Sunday, rallying from a 5-1 deficit to complete the sweep with a 6-5 victory. Freshman Kylan Becker led it off drawing a walk, before Sarah Van Schaik singled to left field. Grayce Majam then reached on an error by the shortstop that scored Paige McKinney, before Hailey Lunderman grounded out moving runners to second and third. From there Miranda Strother delivered an RBI single into left cutting the deficit to 5-3, before Ashton Lampton reached on another shortstop error that scored Haley Culley making it a 5-4 contest. Dakota Matiko drew a full count walk for an RBI and the tying run, before the lineup came back around to Becker when she patiently drew another full count walk, giving the Rebels the 6-5 win.
ON DECK
Ole Miss treks to Athens, Georgia for a pivotal three-game set with the Bulldogs. The two teams enter the weekend locked in a tie for sixth in the SEC standings with Missouri at 9-9 in league play.
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.
