No. 20 Ole Miss Hosts Jacksonville State Wednesday

April 25, 2017

Game 48
Jacksonville State (34-9, 13-1 OVC) at No. 20 Ole Miss (31-16, 6-12 SEC)
Date: April 26, 2017
First Pitch: 6 p.m.
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,000)
TV: SEC Network +
Seth Austin, play-by-play
Madi Osias, analyst
Mobile: ESPN App
Live stats: wea
Series: Jacksonville State leads 4-1
Last Meeting: March 29, 2017
Jacksonville State won, 5-4 (11)
Jacksonville, Ala.
Twitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball

PROMOTIONS
- $1 Hot Dogs and Popcorn

LEADING OFF

No. 20 Ole Miss begins its final homestand Wednesday vs. Jacksonville State in a rematch of last month's matchup.
The matchup will feature two top-40 RPI teams as Ole Miss is up to No. 27 in this week's RPI, while the Gamecocks are No. 40.
In the last contest between the two teams back on March 29, the two teams combined to score seven runs from the seventh inning on, in a game that lasted three hours and 32 minutes, before JSU won 5-4 in 11 innings.
Wednesday begins a five-game homestand, which will feature three national TV games over the next week. Ole Miss hosts No. 13 Alabama this Saturday-Monday in the final home SEC series, and closes out the home slate next Wednesday vs. Southern Miss.
The Rebels are 6-1 in midweek action this season, while the Gamecocks are on a 16-game winning streak, the longest active streak in the country. JSU's last loss came back on March 25 in a 7-5 decision to UT Martin.
Ole Miss' pitching staff has been near untouchable in seven midweeks this season, boasting a 1.20 team ERA with three shutouts. The Rebels have allowed only 10 earned runs in midweeks, with five of those coming in the March 29 game at JSU.
The Rebels' four remaining opponents have a combined 122 wins, with the Gamecocks accounting for 34 of those.
In the latest two national polls, Ole Miss is No. 20 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches' Poll, and No. 21 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The club has been ranked in the coaches' poll in nine-straight weeks, and are one of 10 SEC teams in the top 25.
Ole Miss is up to No. 27 in this week's RPI, tying its highest mark in school history (Rebels were 27th in final 2016 RPI).
With 17 home wins in 2017, the Rebels are four off tying that school record, set just last season.
With a home attendance total of over 11,000 this season, the Rebels are nearing breaking the school record set in 2016.
According to the RPI report, the Rebels have the 10th-toughest schedule in the country. Ole Miss has nine wins over top 50 RPI teams, four of which have come in the last 10 games.
The Rebels have had 28 different batting orders this season, with 15 different players earning starts.
Ole Miss remains as one of the top fielding teams in the NCAA, ranking 20th with a .974 percentage. The Rebels have turned 25 double plays, second-most in the league, and are second in assists (430).
The Rebels are 27-3 when scoring first, and have scored in the first inning 15 times this season with only one loss.
Junior RHP Kaitlin Lee is 4-0 with a 0.78 ERA in midweek action thus far, with only five earned runs allowed in 45 innings. In the last 10 games, she's 4-3 with a 1.50 ERA with six complete games in seven starts. In Friday's start at No. 1 Florida, she pitched her 10th-straight complete game, which broke the school record for consecutive complete games.
Junior OF Elantra Cox snapped her 14-game hitting streak on Friday, and now holds the top two streaks in school history (17 previously this season). She's six hits from breaking the single-season record, and is still three steals off breaking the school's career mark.

SCOUTING REPORT
Jacksonville State heads into Wednesday's matchup riding the nation's longest active winning streak of 16 games, which dates back to March 26. During that stretch, the Gamecocks have pitched six shutouts, with the last loss coming on March 25 in their only loss in OVC play thus far, a 7-5 decision to UT Martin. JSU is up to No. 40 in this week's RPI with 34 wins, and have played particularly well on the road with a 9-3 mark away from home. The Gamecocks have the 19th-toughest schedule remaining according to wins by future opposition (104), and are one of five OVC teams in the top-20 nationally in toughest remaining slates.

The Gamecocks carry a balanced approach with both offense and pitching that rank fairly high in the national statistics. JSU's offense is 31st in average (.309), 38th in doubles per game (1.44), 39th in home runs per game (0.88), 19th in scoring (5.84 runs per game) and 28th in slugging (.472). They lead the Ohio Valley Conference in a trio of categories -- average, scoring and slugging -- and have eight players hitting .300 or better. Jamie McGuire and Anna Chisolm both lead the squad in slugging with eight long balls each, while Chisolm has the edge in RBI (33). Chisolm also leads the club in runs (42), hits (49), walks (21) and stolen bases (17).

JSU's pitching has also been near the top of the OVC and country in various pitching categories, led mostly by Whitney Gillespie and Taylor West. As a unit the Gamecocks are 19th nationally in ERA (1.75) and first in the OVC. Gillespie's 1.11 ERA ranks 13th in the nation and first among all pitchers in the league. She's 26th nationally with six shutouts and fourth in the OVC with 16 wins in 20 starts. In 151.1 innings pitched, she's thrown 16 complete games with just 24 earned runs for an opposing average of .189. She's maintained a high strikeout-to-walk ratio of 132-48, with only 11 extra-base hits given up all year. Behind her, West is 14-4 with a 2.05 ERA in 23 appearances, 20 of which have been starts. She's gone the distance seven times with three shutouts, and also struck out 100-plus with 119 Ks and only 45 walks with just 32 earned runs given up.

LAST GAME VS. JACKSONVILLE STATE
March 29, 2017 Â• Jacksonville, Ala. Â• JSU 5, Ole Miss 4 (11): In a back-and-forth, 11-inning affair that lasted three hours and 32 minutes, No. 24 Ole Miss came out on the losing end of a 5-4 decision back in March

With a combined seven runs scored from the seventh inning on, the Rebels and Gamecocks traded momentum swings time after time, as both teams had multiple chances to end it. Ole Miss had a 2-1 lead with three outs left to play in regulation, before JSU scratched a run across extending it to extras. In the tenth, the Rebels again took advantage, 4-2, but a pair of solo blasts tied it back up, 4-4, before they went on to walk off in the 11th.

Offensively, Ole Miss tallied just seven hits, but drew seven walks, as Cox and Syrett both finished 2-for-5. Syrett and McKinney had the only RBI on the night, while Horton drew two walks and five other players had one each.

Starter Kaitlin Lee went a full seven frames in the circle with just two earned runs allowed off nine hits and six strikeouts while walking two. Bruce took the loss after allowing three runs, all solo shots, off five hits with three punch outs in 3.1 innings.

THE HOME STRETCH IS THE TOUGHEST...
Ever since the start of SEC play, Ole Miss has faced one of the toughest schedules of any team in the league, ranking in the top five in future strength of schedule. Now with eight games left in the regular season, the Rebels have the NCAA's ninth-toughest schedule remaining. The NCAA ranks teams' strength of schedules (past and future) based on opponent records, and Ole Miss' remaining opponents are 121-64 (.654) with an average RPI of 45. Three of the final four opponents have an RPI of of 40 or better, with Jacksonville State checking in at No. 40, Alabama at No. 14, Southern Miss at No. 97, and Missouri at No. 31.

TRUE MEANING OF UTILITY PLAYER
Paige McKinney, a junior with 141 games played in her career, has embraced the meaning of a utility player in 2017. She has started at five different positions defensively, and at some point has played every position on the field except pitcher and catcher. 14 of her starts have come at shortstop, five at at second base, and two at first, while the other two have come in the outfield (RF - 1, LF - 1). She's been effective, ranking fourth on the team with 12 steals and has yet to be thrown out. In 15 of her 23 starts, she's reached safely at least once, and has tallied either a steal or hit in 19 games.

REBELS UP TO NO. 27 IN RPI
After playing the No. 1 team in Florida last weekend, the Rebels jumped up to No. 27 in the latest RPI rankings, which ties for the highest mark in school history. Ole Miss has six wins over top-25 RPI teams in 2017, including four in the last three weekends of SEC play alone. The Rebels have an average RPI loss of 20th, with the 10th-ranked strength of schedule according to the report. Ole Miss is one of 11 SEC teams in the top-30, as all 13 league schools are in the top 32.

OLE MISS MAINTAINS TOP 25 RANKING
Ole Miss fell to No. 20/21 in this week's two national polls, at No. 20 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches' Poll, and 21st in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The Rebels have been ranked in the NFCA Coaches poll in nine-straight weeks, and are one of 10 polls in this week's top 25, while the other three are all receiving votes.

GIVE HIM 100
In just three seasons -- with the third not even complete -- head coach Mike Smith has surpassed the 100-win mark as the Rebels' head coach. The 1-0 victory in game two of the LSU series secured his 100th win, the fastest in school history to reach that milestone. In 165 games at the helm of the program, Smith has been responsible for 20 percent of the program's wins all-time in just three years, leading the Rebels to three consecutive 30-win seasons.

ON DECK
After the midweek tilt, the Rebels welcome No. 13 Alabama to town for a Saturday-Monday series in Oxford. Saturday's series opener, which will be Senior Day for four Rebels, is slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch. Both Sunday and Monday's games will start at 6 p.m. on SEC Network as part of the SEC's Game of the Week.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Elantra Cox

Kaitlin Lee

Paige McKinney

Madi Osias

The University of Mississippi Athletics