.png&width=48&height=48&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Softball Hosts No. 9 Tennessee in Regular Season Finale
5/5/2016 | Softball
Games 55-57
Ole Miss (37-17, 10-11 SEC) vs. No. 9 Tennessee (38-12, 14-6 SEC)
Dates: May 6-8, 2016
First Pitch: 6 p.m. (Friday), 12 p.m. (Saturday), 1 p.m. (Sunday)
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Ole Miss Softball Complex
Capacity: 1,000
Dimensions: L-200, C-220, R-200
TV: SEC Network+ (Friday, Sunday) | SEC Network (Saturday)
Will Kollmeyer/Pam Ward, play-by-play
Brittany McKinney/Cheri Kempf, analyst
Series: Tennessee leads, 42-7
Last Series: March 2-4, 2014
No. 8 Tennessee swept
Knoxville, Tenn.
Live stats: OleMissSports.comTwitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball
PROMOTIONS (FREE admission to all Ole Miss Softball home games)
Friday, May 6
- Firefighter Friday - Oxford Fire Dept. throwing out first pitch
Saturday, May 7
- FREE Crawfish
- Alumni Day (first pitch)
- Postgame autographs
Sunday, May 8
- Senior Day
- Mother's Day recognition
- Postgame autographs
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss closes the 57-game regular season slate this weekend against No. 9 Tennessee.
- The Rebels head into the weekend ninth in the SEC (10-11), while the Vols are third (14-6).
- This weekend's series will be the second straight against a top-25 team, and fifth overall this season.
- Ole Miss' last win against the Vols came in 2009 when they took 2-of-3 from then No. 12 Tennessee at home.
- This weekend's games will mark 34-straight against Tennessee when they are ranked in the top-25, slotting no lower than No. 17 in the previous 31 matchups dating back to 2003.
- The Rebels are coming off a 3-1 win at Louisiana Tech Wednesday, locking up an 11-10 mark in road games in the regular season following the victory in the final midweek of the year.
- Saturday's game will be broadcast nationally on SEC Network, the Rebels' seventh national TV game this season.
- Portions of Sunday's game can also be seen on the SEC Network as part of their Bases Loaded whip around coverage, which will rotate and show live action from all seven SEC games on the final day of the regular season.
- Ole Miss heads into the weekend with a school record 37 wins, and has also set new program marks for home victories (20), road wins (11), and is just one SEC victory from tying the school record (11, 2007).
- This weekend's games feature two of the nation's top RPI teams in No. 13 Tennessee and No. 29 Ole Miss.
- Senior pitcher Madi Osias was named SEC Pitcher of the Week, and freshman outfielder Kylan Becker earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Monday.
- Osias went 2-0 on the week, earning school record wins No. 18 and 19 on the season, pitching two complete game shutouts over UAB and No. 14 Georgia. Becker went 7-for-8 (.857) at the plate with two RBI earning her first weekly award of her young career.
- Hailey Lunderman, a National Freshman of the Year finalist, is one hit from breaking the single season record.
- Junior Miranda Strother is also just one run, and four stolen bases from breaking single season records.
- Ole Miss has two pitchers with double digit wins (Jahnke - 10, Osias - 19) for the first time since the 2006 season, only the third time in school history to have two 10-win pitchers.
- The Rebels have plated at least five runs in an inning eight times this year, and are 6-2 overall in those games.
SCOUTING REPORT
No. 9 Tennessee heads into the weekend third in the SEC standings at 14-6, just a tick ahead of Alabama and Kentucky, who are both 14-7. The Vols are led by co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly, who are in their 15th season as the leaders of the program. The Vols have reached the Women's College World Series in three of the last four seasons, including last year's run powered by a school record 100 home runs.
The Vols are coming off a sweep over No. 3 Auburn last weekend, where they run ruled the Tigers in back-to-back games on Sunday (10-2, 12-1) before Monday's series finale was cancelled due to weather. Tennessee has only played 13 road games all year and is 5-8 in those contests, including a 3-6 mark away from home in the SEC slate. The Vols have swept four of their conference series thus far against Arkansas, No. 25 Mississippi State, No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 3 Auburn. Tennessee dropped league weekends to No. 1 Florida and No. 15 Missouri, and took 2-of-3 from No. 10 Georgia.
Tennessee enters the weekend with one of the nation's top offenses with a .336 team average led by seven players at .300 or better. Meghan Gregg's .390 clip and 52 RBI pace the way, while Megan Geer has chipped in with 49 RBI and a .381 average. Lexi Overstreet has slugged 11 home runs for the Vols and also driven in 52 runs to lead a team that's hit 47 on the year. Tennessee is 91-of-101 on the base paths led by Geer's perfect 23-for-23 mark.
Erin Gabriel has drawn the most starts in the circle for the Vols with 26 and an 18-5 record. She's carried a 2.55 ERA with 152 strikeouts and just 29 walks, holding opposing hitters to a .213 clip. Matty Moss is the team leader in ERA with a 1.74 mark and 10-3 record, and has worked 80 innings in 12 starts. Rainey
Gaffin is 9-3 with a 2.38 ERA in nine starts, also with a .213 average against.
JAHNKE, OSIAS BECOME FIRST PITCHING DUO TO REACH DOUBLE DIGIT WINS SINCE 2006
With Elisha Jahnke's win in the midweek at Louisiana Tech, she and Madi Osias are both now in double digit win totals, becoming only the second pair in program history to accomplish the feat (Mary Jane Callahan/Dana Brill - 2005, 2006).
REBELS SHATTER HOME, ROAD, OVERALL 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 the Rebels' April 19 victory over Memphis. The Rebels have also won 20 games at home, a new school record. Ole Miss needs just one win in the remaining SEC slate to tie the record for league wins in a season. With the win at No. 14 Georgia on May 1, the Rebels became the first team in program history to reach double-digit away wins with a 10-10 mark on the year, and improved that mark to finish 11-10 in road games on the year following the midweek at Louisiana Tech.
REBELS SNAP 13-YEAR DROUGHT TO GEORGIA
Ole Miss entered its weekend series at No. 14 Georgia (April 29 - May 1) having not won a game against the Bulldogs since 2003. After an 8-0 loss in the opener on Friday, the Rebels responded in a huge way pitching the Bulldogs their first shutout of the year, which marked the first win for Ole Miss over Georgia since April 13, 2003. The win in Athens was also the first in 14 seasons, as the Rebels overall snapped a 32-game losing streak to the Bulldogs.
OSIAS, BECKER EARN SEC WEEKLY AWARDS
Senior pitcher Madi Osias and freshman outfielder Kylan Becker both had big weeks against UAB and No. 14 Georgia, earning them SEC Pitcher of the Week, and SEC Freshman of the Week honors, respectively. Osias earned the second weekly award of her career after becoming the Rebels' single-season wins leader picking up wins No. 18 and 19. In both of her appearances, she went the distance, ptiching two shutouts with just seven combined hits allowed, holding opponents to just a .152 average. Becker became the first Ole Miss freshman to earn the award since Haley Culley did back on March 4, 2013, after going 7-for-8 (.875) at the plate helping the Rebels to two big wins. In the win over UAB, she posted one of the Rebels' three triples, helping tie the school record for triples in a game. After going 2-for-2 in the opener against Georgia, Becker came back in games two and three with two clutch RBI.
LUNDERMAN NAMED TOP 25 FINALIST FOR SCHUTT SPORTS/NFCA DI NATIONAL FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Freshman Hailey Lunderman picked up well deserved honors on Thursday after being named a Top 25 Finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year. Lunderman is one of nine players from the SEC on the Top 25 list, and is the lone shortstop among all 25 finalists. The winner of the National Freshman of the Year Award will be announced May 31.
ON DECK
The Rebels open postseason play with the SEC Championship set for May 11-14 at Nusz Park in Starkville. Seeding and game times will be announced Sunday following the completion of all the SEC games.
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.
