Rebel Softball Hosts No. 2 Florida

April 7, 2016

Games 39-41
Ole Miss (28-10, 4-5 SEC) vs. No. 2 Florida (35-3, 9-3 SEC)
Dates: April 8-10
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Ole Miss Softball Complex
Capacity: 1,000
Dimensions: L-200, C-220, R-200
TV: SEC Network+ | Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Will Kollmeyer, play-by-play
Brittany McKinney, analyst
Series: Florida leads, 41-8
Last Series: March 7-9, 2014
No. 1 Florida won 2-of-3
Gainesville, Fla.
Live stats: OleMissSports.comTwitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball

PROMOTIONS
Friday, April 8
- Firefighter Friday
- #TELEO T-Shirt Giveaway (First 150 fans)
- Alyssa Invergo Senior Night

Saturday, April 9
- FREE Crawfish
- Haley Culley Senior Night

Sunday, April 10
- Pre-game parade with Oxford Park District Children
- Military Appreciation Day
- Mississippi National Guard Humvee
- ROTC Tent in Outfield
- Air Force ROTC Color Guard
- Postgame Autographs
- Kids Run the Bases

LEADING OFF

Ole Miss plays its first weekend home games for the first time in nearly a month when it hosts No. 2 Florida.
The two sides are meeting for the first time since the 2014 campaign, when the Rebels knocked off the No. 1 team in the country in the series opener in Gainesville.
The Gators have been ranked no lower than sixth in the previous 22 matchups with the Rebels.
Ole Miss will be searching for its first win against the Gators at home since the 2007 campaign, when the Rebels took 2-of-3 from No. 19 Florida.
For the second-straight week, this weekend's games feature two top-35 RPI teams as Ole Miss is at No. 33, while the Gators are No. 2.
Ole Miss is coming off a big series win at rival Mississippi State last weekend, currently sitting ninth in the SEC.
Still with the last third of the schedule left to play, Ole Miss has already matched or topped all but three of the program's previous season win totals (2015, 2010, 2005).
Ole Miss is just one of four teams in the country with triple-digit stolen bases at 106 in 123 attempts.
The weekend series will feature the SEC's top two fielding teams in Florida's .983 fielding percentage (17 errors) and Ole Miss' mark of .977 (25 errors).
After going 12 games without a home run, the Rebels have now hit eight in the last 10 games.
The Rebels' 15 home wins are tied for the most in school history (2010). The team is hitting .322 in its 17 home contests this season with a team ERA of 1.89.
The Rebels have walked-off against opponents seven times this season, five of which were run-rule wins.
Junior Courtney Syrett enters the weekend with an 11 game reached-base streak, while sophomore Elantra Cox has hit safely in seven straight.
The Rebels have been most successful when scoring first in 2016, holding an 18-1 record in those games. Ole Miss has also had success scoring early with an 11-2 mark in plating runs in the first inning.
Senior pitcher Madi Osias carried the team on her back last weekend, throwing 310 pitches in the Mississippi State series improving to 15-2. She's two wins from tying, three from breaking the single-season school record.

SCOUTING REPORT
The two-time defending national champions head into the SEC series 35-3 overall and 9-3 in league play. The Gators dropped to No. 2/3 in the polls this past week, the only time this season not ranked No. 1 nationally. Florida went 60-7 a season ago, topping Michigan for the national championship. One year prior, the Gators defeated SEC foe Alabama for the crown, going 55-12 that season.

Florida has lost just three games all year, one to No. 3 Auburn on March 14, before dropping its SEC series with No. 6 Alabama last weekend in Gainesville. The Gators have played two common opponents thus far, topping UAB, 8-0 (Feb. 19), and Stephen F. Austin, 6-2 (Feb. 19). 19 of Florida's victories have been shutouts, as the club has given up just 38 runs all season.

The Florida offense ranks in the top-25 nationally in average (.321) and on-base percentage (.451), with just two of the nine everyday starters not hitting above .300 on the year. Kayli Kvistad has paced the way for the offense thus far with a team-best 36 RBI off five home runs. Amanda Lorenz leads the squad in hitting with a .411 average and 29 RBI. Six players have at least 20 RBI, while as a team the Gators have hit just 27 home runs. The Florida defense also ranks first in the NCAA in fielding with a .983 mark and just 18 errors.

Florida boasts two of the top four ERAs in the country in Aleshia Ocasio's 0.42 mark that ranks first, and Delanie Gourley's 0.84 ERA that's fourth nationally. As a unit the three Florida pitchers hold a nation-leading 0.86 ERA with 19 shutouts and an opponent average of .158. Ocasio is 12-1 in 10 starts, six of which she went the distance, while Gourley is 10-2 in 12 starts. Kelly Barnhill has the team lead in strikeouts with 119 and is a perfect 13-0 with a 1.36 ERA.

REBELS RECEIVE VOTES IN BOTH POLLS, No. 33 IN RPI
In three of the last four weeks, Ole Miss has appeared in at least one of the two top-25 national polls, receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, as well as the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. After debuting at No. 29 in the first NCAA RPI three weeks ago, the Rebels held at No. 33 in Monday's release entering the weekend series vs. No. 2 Florida.

REBELS WIN RIVALRY SERIES OVER MISSISSIPPI STATE
For the first time since 2006-07, Ole Miss won its series against rival Mississippi State in back-to-back seasons. After taking 2-of-3 from the Bulldogs in Oxford last March against the then No. 24 club, the Rebels traveled to Starkville and again won 2-of-3, becoming only the second team in program history to win the series in two-straight years.

In the opener over State on Saturday, freshman and Mississippi native Sarah Van Schaik was the hero, drilling a three-run home run to center field in the sixth inning that gave the Rebs a 4-3 victory. After dropping a 1-0 extra-inning affair Sunday on ESPNU, the Ole Miss bats came alive in Monday's SEC Network game of the week, pounding out 15 hits to top the Bulldogs 9-5 in the finale. Senior pitcher Madi Osias carried the load for the Rebels, throwing 310 pitches going 2-0 in 17.2 innings pitched.

SCHNEIDER'S #SCTOP10 SNAG
In last Sunday's nationally-televised contest at Mississippi State on ESPNU, sophomore 1B Alex Schneider made a highlight reel effort, diving to her left near the brick wall for a catch that made No. 5 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays on the day.

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.

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

Elantra Cox

Haley Culley

Alyssa Invergo

Madi Osias

Sarah Schaik

Alex Schneider

Courtney Syrett

The University of Mississippi Athletics