The University of Mississippi Athletics
Softball Opens Fall Practice Friday
9/22/2016 | Softball
OXFORD, Miss. - As the calendar officially turns to fall on Thursday, the Ole Miss softball team gears up for its fall season which begins this weekend.
The Rebels will officially begin fall practice Friday afternoon to kick off a busy couple of days which also features the team's first intrasquad on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The 2017 Rebels will also hold intrasquad scrimmages on Wednesday, Sept. 28, and Wednesday, Oct. 5. All fall scrimmages are free admission and open to the public.
"We are excited to get the full team together and to continue the process of building a championship program," head coach Mike Smith said. "We were able to taste a lot of success last year, including a great showing in our first ever NCAA Regionals. Now these girls are itching to get back on the field as a full squad and are fired up to continue our vision of building character and winning championships."
Ole Miss is coming off its strongest season in school history after qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. The Rebels advanced all the way to the regional final round before falling to No. 3 Oklahoma, the team that went on to win the Women's College World Series.
The Rebels finished the year ranked No. 24 in the final ESPN.com/USA Today poll, the first time the program has ever finished in the top 25. 41 wins also marked the most wins ever for the program in a single season, shattering the previous record of 30.
Despite losing six seniors to graduation, the Rebels return a majority of their everyday starters from last year's run, which featured 13 underclassmen as the third-youngest team in the NCAA. Ole Miss also welcomes in a strong recruiting class of 12 players and returns 10 position players who started nearly every game.
Three pitchers from last year's unit are back, and four new Rebels are progressing towards the spring looking to add depth in the circle.
The Rebels' fall schedule gets underway Oct. 2 as part of Alumni Weekend, as former players and their families will be back in town back for a full weekend of activities. Ole Miss will face off with Meridian Community College at 1:30 p.m. and take on Delta State at 4 p.m. on Oct. 2. For the full slate of fall contests, visit the schedule page here.
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.
