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The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 18 Ole Miss Opens SEC Tournament Wednesday
5/9/2017 | Softball
Tournament Central | Gameday/Fan Information
Game 55
(RV) Mississippi State (36-19, 10-14 SEC) vs. No. 18 Ole Miss (36-18, 10-14 SEC)
Date: May 10, 2017
First Pitch: 2:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. CT
Location: Knoxville, Tenn.
Venue: Sherri Parker Lee Stadium
TV: SEC Network
Adam Amin, play-by-play
Amanda Scarborough, analyst
Laura Rutledge, sideline
Mobile: ESPN App
Live stats: Series: Mississippi State leads 39-25
Last Series: March 22, 2017
No. 23 Ole Miss won 2-0
Oxford, Miss.
Twitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball
LEADING OFF
- No. 18 Ole Miss opens postseason play Wednesday vs. its rival, Mississippi State, in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
- The Rebels are making their third-straight appearance in the tournament, and sixth overall, after picking up their first-ever SEC Tournament win last year in the first round game against Georgia.
- Ole Miss has now made three-straight SEC Tournaments for the second time, after also appearing in 2006, 07 and 08.
- The winner of Wednesday's matchup will advance to face No. 1 Florida on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
- Mississippi State and Ole Miss played each other just once this season, a midweek game in March in which the Rebels won, 2-0.
- The Bulldogs mark the fifth different team Ole Miss will have faced in the SEC Tournament, after previously playing Alabama and Tennessee once, and Florida and Georgia twice in the last five appearances.
- The Rebels finished the SEC regular season 10-14 after winning three of their final four series (LSU, Alabama, Missouri).
- After starting 0-6 in the league against Texas A&M and Tennessee, the Rebels went 10-8 in their final six series.
- Within a two-week home stretch, the Rebels walked off four times in SEC play, and have nine overall walk-off victories this season, most of any team in the country.
- Despite a 3-1 week that included a Monday night win over No. 13 Alabama, and two road victories at Mizzou, the Rebels fell three spots in the RPI to No. 23, ninth-best in the SEC. They've been no worse than 30th in the last four weeks, and have improved 22 spots since the debut of the RPI back in March.
- Ole Miss is one of only 13 programs in the country with at least eight wins over top-25 RPI teams.
- The Rebels have played 22 games against top-25 RPI teams. Only seven other schools have played more -- Florida, Auburn, UCLA, Washington, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Missouri.
- Ole Miss finished the season with 10 wins over top-25 competition, and moved up to No. 19 in both national polls this week.
- The Rebels played 10 games this season against four teams from last year's Women's College World Series, and won six of those, sweeping LSU, defeating Auburn once, and most recently taking 2-of-3 from Alabama.
- For the first time in school history, Ole Miss landed three players on the All-SEC Awards list, as sophomore OF Kylan Becker earned First Team All-SEC honors, junior RHP Kaitlin Lee was named Second Team All-SEC, and RHP Morgan Bruce earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
- Lee, the SEC leader in innings pitched, moved up to third in single-season history with 16 wins, and has earned two earned runs or less in 22 of her 29 starts.
- Junior OF Elantra Cox broke the school's single-season hits record in the regular season finale with her 77th hit.
- Senior Miranda Strother is one run from the career record, and three steals off that record, one behind Cox.
SCOUTING REPORT
Mississippi State heads into the SEC Tournament as the No. 9 seed after also earning a 10-14 conference record. The Bulldogs won four of their eight series overall, including four of the last five, en route to a 36-19 overall record in the regular season. MSU wrapped up play last weekend at home vs. No. 16 Kentucky, taking two of three games there, and also won series' over No. 24 Arkansas, No. 19 Georgia, and South Carolina. The Bulldogs did not face-off against Florida, Missouri, Tennessee or the Rebels in SEC weekend play, and went 1-8 against Alabama, LSU and Auburn, three teams Ole Miss beat a combined six times.
The Bulldogs' offense is paced by four players at .300 or better, including Bevia Robinson's .340 clip, and a .327 average from Reggie Harrison. Robinson leads the team in hits (55) and steals (29), while Harrison has drawn a team-high 28 walks. Caroline Seitz, a First Team All-SEC selection, leads the way with 44 RBI off nine home runs and 10 doubles, as she's carried a .323 clip and .545 slugging mark. Overall MSU has nine players with double-digit RBI, as Olivia Golden is second on the club with 26 off 12 extra-base hits.
Alexis Silkwood has been the story in the circle for MSU, a she's 15-6 with a 1.91 ERA. She's thrown 150 innings and held opponents to a .234 average, with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 102-44. Silkwood has gone the distance in 11 of her 19 starts, and also recorded five saves in her 35 overall appearances. Cassady Knudsen holds the team's best ERA (1.67), and is 9-3 in 10 starts and 67 innings. Holly Ward is 7-9 with a 2.27 ERA in 17 starts, while Regan Green is 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA in limited action.
LAST GAME VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
March 22, 2017 • Ole Miss 2, Mississippi State 0: Kaitlin Lee threw a 4-hit shutout, and a pair of Mississippi girls in Ashton Lampton and Paige McKinney both finished with an RBI, leading No. 23 Ole Miss softball past its rival Mississippi State, 2-0, back in March.
Lee, a native of Gulfport, was dominant allowing only four hits scattered across four different innings while striking out four. The transfer from Mississippi Gulf Coast finished with no walks in her third complete game of the season.
The Bulldogs threatened early on after the leadoff hitter reached on an error, but Lee worked around that and a sacrifice bunt with a pair of groundouts. The Rebels responded in their first chance, as Cox reached on an infield single before moving up to second on an errant throw. After Becker put down a perfect bunt for a hit, Strother walked and Lampton drew a hit by pitch, scoring Cox to put the Rebels in front 1-0.
MSU again put its leadoff hitter aboard in the second, but a sac bunt attempt was no good, and Lee again worked out of it to retire the Bulldogs. In the home half of the second, McKinney drew one of the Rebels' three walks on the night, but back-to-back fielders' choice plays and Cox caught stealing at second ended any threat for more runs.
The middle innings produced nothing for either side as both pitchers settled in for the most part, before the sixth saw six Ole Miss hitters head to the plate. Van Schaik got the rally started off a hard single to center field, before Bry Castro pinch ran for her. A groundout to short moved her to second, and McKinney's clutch RBI single up the middle scored her, pushing the Rebels' advantage to 2-0.
The Bulldogs went on to threaten in the seventh as the leadoff reached after being HBP, and a single put runners at the corners, but Lee closed it out with a groundout capping off the complete-game shutout.
REBELS AGAINST THE 2016 WCWS FIELD
Ole Miss will wrap up its regular season having played 10 games against teams from the 2016 Women's College World Series. The Rebels won six of those, sweeping No. 11 LSU, defeating No. 5 Auburn once, and taking the series over No. 13 Alabama. Ole Miss is also only one of six teams in the NCAA to play both participants from last season's WCWS Championship Series. (BYU, Washington, Nebraska, Evansville, Mississippi State.)
REBELS FALL THREE SPOTS TO NO. 23 IN RPI
Despite a 3-1 record on the week, including two road wins, the Rebels fell three spots to No. 23 in the final RPI of the regular season. Ole Miss finished the regular season with eight wins against top-25 RPI competition, and 14 total against 1-50 programs. The Rebels' average RPI loss is 20, with the No. 9 strength of schedule.
OLE MISS MAINTAINS TOP 25 RANKING
Closing out the regular season with a 2-1 record at Missouri, the Rebels jumped up to No. 18 in the ESPN poll, and improved to 19 in the NFCA Coaches' Poll, its highest marks in four weeks. The Rebels have now been ranked in 10-straight weeks in the coaches' poll, and have 10 wins over top-25 opponents.
STROTHER NAMED COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Ole Miss softball senior Miranda Strother was recognized Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for her success both on the field and in the classroom, earning CoSIDA Academic All-District honors. Strother is one of four players representing the SEC on the District 6 list, and is the first CoSIDA Academic All-District selection for Ole Miss since 2010 when Corrine Doornberg earned the accolades. She's just the sixth Rebel to land on the academic list and eighth selection in school history. The exercise science major has maintained a career 3.72 GPA, and is a two-time selection to the Academic All-SEC Team.
REBELS CLAIM FOURTH SERIES WIN IN FINALE AT MISSOURI
Ole Miss went on the road to Missouri and took two out of three, including a run-rule victory in game two. It marked the fourth series win of the season and second-in-a-row, clinching an eighth-place finish in the league standings.
TRIO OF REBELS LAND ALL-SEC HONORS
For the first time in school history, Ole Miss landed three players on the All-SEC postseason awards list, as sophomore Kylan Becker, junior Kaitlin Lee, and freshman Morgan Bruce earned All-SEC accolades. Becker becomes the first All-SEC First Team selection in school history. Lee, the SEC leader in innings pitched, earned All-SEC Second Team honors, while Bruce landed on the All-Freshman team. Becker becomes Ole Miss' first All-SEC First Team selection in school history, as five players earned second team honors a total of nine times previously. It also marks the first time in program history with three Rebels on the SEC postseason awards, as Bruce becomes the third-straight All-Freshman SEC selection, and 10th in school history. She is also the first All-Freshman pitcher in school history.
OLE MISS IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT
Ole Miss is making its sixth overall appearance in the SEC Tournament, and third-straight, after earning the No. 8 seed at 10-14 in league play. The Rebels won their first-ever SEC Tournament game a year ago in Starkville, Mississippi, taking down No. 8 seed Georgia. Wednesday marks the first game against Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament, and fifth different team the Rebels will have faced in the postseason event.
Date | Opponent | Result | Location |
5-12-16 | No. 1 Florida | L, 1-0 | Starkville, Miss. |
5-11-16 | No. 18 Georgia | W, 4-2 | Starkville, Miss. |
5-6-15 | No. 14 Georgia | L, 11-0 (5) | Baton Rouge, La. |
5-8-08 | No. 1 Florida | L, 1-0 | Baton Rouge, La. |
5-10-07 | No. 1 Tennessee | L, 6-0 | Auburn, Ala. |
5-5-06 | No. 4 Alabama | L, 6-0 | Athens, Ga. |
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.
