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The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 22 Ole Miss Making Quick Trip to Memphis Tuesday
3/19/2018 | Softball
| TUESDAY - 5 p.m. CT |
Game 25
Date: March 20, 2018
First Pitch: 5 p.m. CT
Location: Memphis, Tenn.
Venue: Tigers Softball Complex
Series: Ole Miss leads, 5-1
Last Meeting: April 12, 2017
Ole Miss 4, Memphis 0
Oxford, Miss.
TV: Memphis Tiger Network
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Twitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss makes a quick trip north to nearby Memphis to take on the Tigers before heading to Tuscaloosa for a three-game SEC series against No. 12 Alabama this coming weekend.
- Tuesday's game will be streamed live via the Memphis Tiger Network on GoTigersGo.com
- Ole Miss leads the all-time series 5-1, having won each of the last five matchups with Memphis.
- Ole Miss remains in both national polls, being slotted No. 22 in the USA Softball Poll and No. 23 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.
- The first NCAA RPI Report was announced Monday, with Ole Miss being slotted at No. 35. Meanwhile, Memphis comes in at No. 68 in the RPI.
- All five of Ole Miss' remaining SEC opponents are ranked in the top-30 in the RPI report.
- The Rebels are coming off of its first home SEC series of the season against South Carolina. The Gamecocks took the first two games of the series before Ole Miss bounced back with a 1-0 shutout in the finale.
- Junior center fielder Kylan Becker is riding a nine-game reached base streak, recording a hit in seven of those contests.
- Since returning to the Rebel lineup against Southeastern Louisiana, junior Celeste Wood is batting .538 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
- Making her first start of the season on Sunday against South Carolina, freshman Ava Tillmann was lights out. She went the distance, allowing just three hits and striking out six in a complete-game shutout over a strong Gamecock offense.
- Memphis is in the midst of one of its strongest seasons ever, coming into Wednesdays ballgame with a 19-7 record.
- In their most recent action, the Tigers went 3-1 as hosts of the Tiger Classic at the Tigers Softball Complex. Memphis earned three wins over opponents Ole Miss has also beaten in 2018, taking down Tennessee Tech a pair of times and earning a tight 1-0 victory over SIUE. The only blemish of the weekend came against Southeast Missouri, an 8-7 defeat.
SCOUTING REPORT
- Entering her seventh season in Southern Tennessee, Natalie Poole heads up the Memphis program, boasting 17 seasons as a head softball coach. 2017 was possibly the best season in Tigers history, tallying a 29-27 overall record and a semifinal finish in the American Athletic Conference Tournament. Memphis set program records in batting average and stolen bases, with senior Lindsay Crowdus locking up Co-AAC Player of the Year laurels. Prior to arriving at Memphis, Poole was the head coach at her alma mater, McNeese State, being succeeded by Rebel coach Mike Smith. The Cowgirls posted three-straight 30-win seasons in Poole's lone three seasons in Lake Charles, Louisiana, earning one NCAA Tournament bid. Before returning to her alma mater, Poole headed up the Georgia Southern Eagles for seven seasons, earning an NCAA bid in 2006.
- While 2017 was a banner year for the Tigers, 2018 has the potential to raise the bar even further. Memphis currently sits at 19-7 on the year, including 11-2 at the Tigers Softball Complex. The Tigers and Rebels have shared two common opponents in Tennessee Tech and SIUE. Ole Miss went undefeated against the Golden Eagles and Cougars and the Tigers matched the effort. Memphis recorded 8-0 and 5-1 victories over Tennessee Tech and followed with a 1-0 win against SIUE this past weekend as hosts of the Tiger Classic.
- The Tigers have demonstrated hot bats through this part of the season, registering a .347 team batting average with eight players hitting at or above .300, including two over .400. A team built on speed, Memphis has 15 triples on the year and has gone 53-of-65 on stolen base attempts. Freshman Baylee Smith, a former teammate of Elantra Cox at Chester County High School, leads the way at .485 with 21 RBIs, while senior pitcher Katie Bignac is close behind at .444 with seven triples, 20 runs scored and a team-high 25 RBIs. Freshman outfielder Delaney Smith has scored a team-best 26 runs, stealing successfully in 20-of-21 attempts. Senior infielder Brooke Lee is a proven run producer, hitting .333 with five home runs and 21 RBIs.
- In the circle, senior right-hander Molly Smith has carried the majority of the load with 105 innings, posting a 0.87 ERA with 115 strikeouts to just 26 walks, going 11-3 in her 16 starts. Smith is holding opposing batters to a .183 average but has proven to be wild at times, recording 13 HBPs. Freshman Mariah Nichols is the only other Tiger pitcher with at least 10 innings in the circle, throwing 56.2 in 14 appearances, half in relief. Nichols holds a 1.73 ERA with 46 strikeouts and 19 walks, recording a .201 opponent batting average.
MEMPHIS SERIES HISTORY
Despite their proximity, Ole Miss and Memphis have played just six times previously, partly due to the Tigers not fielding a softball team until 2006. The Tigers got the better of the Rebels in the first-ever meeting in 2006 but since then the series has been all Ole Miss. The Rebels have claimed each of the last five matchups, all coming during the Mike Smith era. Ole Miss is 1-0 all-time at Memphis, earning a 7-3 victory at the Tigers Softball Complex in 2016.
TILLMANN CAPITALIZES ON OPPORTUNITY
Entering Sunday's game against a powerful No. 17 South Carolina lineup, freshman Ava Tillmann had never gone longer that two innings or thrown more than 28 pitches in an outing this season. All the native Georgian did during her first-ever start was toss all seven innings, holding the Gamecocks to three hits and striking out six to become the first Rebel to pitch a complete-game shutout in her first start since Kaitlin Lee against Loyola Marymount last season. Over the entire series, Tillmann pitched nine frames, facing just five batters over the minimum and shutting out Carolina completely. Almost more impressively, only one ball left the infield all weekend.
WOOD LAYING THE LUMBER
In her last four games, junior outfielder Celeste Wood has really been on top of her game. The Hacienda Heights, California native is batting .538 after going 7-for-13 during her four-game hit streak, clubbing her first home run as a Rebel. The former Michigan State Spartan has also posted three RBIs and a pair of runs scored during the stretch.
McKINNEY SHOWING HER POP
In three seasons at Ole Miss, senior shortstop Paige McKinney had registered just four extra-base hits in her collegiate career. This season, the DeSoto High School product has seen her power numbers rise, already tallying three extra-baggers with two doubles and a triple. If the season ended today, McKinney's .356 slugging percentage would easily be a career-high, more than 50 points higher than the highest mark in her career.
PLAYING FROM AHEAD
Through 24 games, its abundantly clear that a quick start is important for Ole Miss. The Rebels are 13-2 this season when scoring first and are 2-7 when playing from behind. In games in which Ole Miss has scored in the opening frame, the Rebs have accumulated a perfect 10-0 record.
THEY COME IN BUNCHES
Over the past two seasons home runs have shown to be contagious for Ole Miss. Last season, Ole Miss hit multiple homers in nine games, accounting for 19 long balls. On the flip side, just 12 of Ole Miss' dingers were the only home run to be hit by a Rebel in that game. The pattern has spilled over into 2018. Ole Miss has four games in which they've gone yard twice, compared to three contests where the ball has left the park once.
ON DECK
After Wednesday's game against Memphis, the Rebels will remain on the road for an SEC series against perennial power Alabama. Ole Miss will look to buck history in the series, having won just once in 26 games in Tuscaloosa. All three games will be on SEC Network +, available via WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
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 softball and all of Ole Miss athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.
