The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Softball Resumes SEC Play at Arkansas
4/27/2018 | Softball
| SATURDAY - 3 p.m. CT | SUNDAY - 4 p.m. CT | MONDAY - 6 p.m. CT |
Games 47-49
Date: Apr. 28-30, 2018
First Pitch: Sat.: 3 p.m. | Sun.: 4 p.m. | Mon.: 6 p.m.
Location: Fayetteville, Ark.
Venue: Bogle Park
Series: Arkansas leads, 31-28
Last Meeting: Apr. 22-24, 2016
Ole Miss swept, 3-0
Oxford, Miss.
TV: GM1/3: SEC Network | GM2: ESPNU
Courtney Lyle (play-by-play)
Jenny Dalton-Hill (analyst)
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Twitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss resumes SEC play for the first time in 12 days this weekend, heading to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the Razorbacks in a three-game series Saturday through Monday at Bogle Park.
- All three games of the series will be broadcasted to the nation through the ESPN family of networks. The first game of the series will be on the SEC Network before game two moves to ESPNU. The final game will be the SEC Network Game of the Week, the second time this season Ole Miss will be featured during the game of the week.
- While Arkansas leads the all-time series against Ole Miss by a slim 31-28 margin, the Rebels have gotten the better of the Razorbacks as of late. Ole Miss has been the victor in each of the last six meetings and has won 12 of the last 14 matchups. The Rebels haven't lost in Fayetteville since 2010.
- The Rebels are coming off of a 3-0 showing during the week, sweeping a doubleheader over UT Martin on Tuesday and trouncing UT Martin 14-6 on Wednesday. The Rebels went yard seven times over the three games, including a program-record five times against the Skyhawks.
- Scoring in the first inning in all three non-conference games this week, Ole Miss has now won 17-of-20 games in 2018 when tallying a run in the opening frame.
- Ole Miss is on a seven-game winning streak, its second longest of the year. The Rebels won nine-straight from Feb. 17 to Mar. 3.
- In the most recent NCAA RPI report, Ole Miss was slotted at No. 33, a couple of sports ahead of its ranking the previous week at No. 35
- Arkansas comes into the weekend ranked 16th in both national polls, while slotting in at No. 18 in the most recent RPI report.
- Of Ole Miss' seven remaining games, six comes against teams ranked in the top-20 in both national polls as well as the RPI report.
- The Rebels and Razorbacks share a few connections. Ole Miss sophomore Dylinn Stancil was a teammate of Autumn Storms and Kayla Green at Great Oak High School in Temecula California. Meanwhile, Arkansas catcher Lauren Archuleta attended Heath High School in Heath, Texas, hometown of Rebel pitcher Anna Borgen.
SCOUTING REPORT
- Courtney Deifel, the fourth head coach in Arkansas history, is in her third season in Fayetteville, joining the Razorbacks after heading up the program at Maryland for one year. In her three seasons, Deifel has accumulated a 75-66 overall record, including 17-50 in SEC play. last season, Deifel saw her Razorbacks win 31 games, a 21-game improvement from the previous season, on the way to earning a birth in the NCAA Tournament. In her lone season at Maryland, Deifel led the Terps to a 27-27 record.
- The Razorbacks are currently 34-11 on the season, splitting their 18 SEC games at 9-9. Arkansas is coming off of a 2-1 series defeat to Auburn on the road. The Razorbacks have been incredibly tough when playing on their home field, racking up a 21-2 record at Bogle Stadium.
- Offensively, the Razorbacks bat .284 as a team, scoring 5.24 runs per game. Arkansas's calling card in 2018 has been power, with the Razorbacks ranking second in the conference and 23rd in the nation with 1.04 home runs per game, 47 in total. Additionally, the Hogs have slugged 54 doubles and 10 triples for 111 total extra-base hits. Freshman outfielder Hannah McEwen leads the team with a .350 average, leading the team in both RBIs and runs with 43 and 36, respectively, posting eight homers and seven doubles. Senior infielder Autumn Buczek is next in line at .327, tallying five doubles and four triples on the way to 27 runs and 13 RBIs. Junior Infielder Ashley Diaz rounds out the everyday starters batting over .300 at .310, hitting six long balls as well as five doubles, driving in 28 runs and scoring 16 more. Junior infielder Katie Warrick has made 27 starts on the year and has taken full advantage, crushing seven homers, second most on the team.
- The Razorbacks boast one of the SEC's better 1-2 combinations in the circle in freshman Mary Haff and sophomore Autumn Storms. Haff ranks second in the league with 21 wins and 12 shutouts, posting a 1.37 ERA in 153.0 innings. The freshman has racked up 194 strikeouts on the year, compared to just 24 walks, allowing a .142 average to opposing batters. Storms has tossed 124.1 innings for Arkansas, earning a 12-7 record with a 2.08 ERA. Storms holds a 4-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio, fanning 100 batters on the year.
LEE'S NAME CALLED ON DRAFT NIGHT
There are few experiences in an athlete's career as exhilarating as hearing your name be called on draft day. Earlier this week, Ole Miss pitcher Kaitlin Lee was able to live out this dream, being selected in the 2018 National Pro Fastpitch Draft by the Aussie Spirit. Lee was the first selection of the fourth round, becoming the second Rebel in program-history to be selected into the NPF, joining Rebel great RT Cantillo, who was the final selection of the 2014 draft. Lee was one of nine players from the SEC to be selected in the draft and one of 13 pitchers.
RECENT HISTORY FAVORING THE REBS
Early on in the series history, Arkansas dominated Ole Miss, winning 18 of the first 20 meetings. However, the worm has turned as of late as the Rebels have gotten on a good run against the Razorbacks to close the all-time record to a narrow 31-28 lead for Arkansas. Ole Miss is currently on a six-game winning streak over the Razorbacks, winning 12 of the last 14 matchups. The last time the Rebels lost of Arkansas in Fayetteville, few if any of the current players for either team were even in high school, with the Razorbacks defeating Ole Miss 9-0 in 2010.
A MIDWEEK TO REMEMBER
Ole Miss swept its three midweek non-conference games this past week, defeating Alcorn State and UT Martin in convincing fashion, outscoring the Lady Braves and Skyhawks 48-7. Ole Miss got the week started with a doubleheader sweep over Alcorn State, crushing the Lady Braves 14-0 in five innings in the first game before setting aside their in-state neighbors 8-1 in the night cap.
In Wednesday's game against UT Martin, Ole Miss broke out the boom sticks. Entering the game with just 17 home runs on the season, the Rebels broke the program-record with five big flies against the Skyhawks. Falling behind 3-0 early, Ole Miss plated four in their half of the opening frame to turn the tide, including Brittany Finney, Alex Schneider and Abbey Latham hitting back-to-back-to-back home runs for the first time in Ole Miss history. Latham would go deep again in the fifth to become the second Rebel in 2018 with multiple homers in the same game as Ole Miss registered 17 total hits, its most since setting the school-record with 21 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2015.
COX ON FIRE
Over the last seven games, nobody in the Ole Miss lineup has been as dangerous as Elantra Cox. Cox is riding a team-high seven game hit-streak, reaching base in 16-consecutive contests. The speedy outfielder is batting .593 during those seven games from the leadoff spot, scoring 13 runs, driving in five more and stealing nine bases. Cox tormented Ole Miss' opponents during the midweek, scoring three times in each of the three games.
FINNEY RAINING DOWN HITS IN APRIL
After struggling through the first half of the season, junior Brittany Finney has become one of Ole Miss' most dangerous bats in the lineup. Starting 16 games, Finney is batting .327 during the month with a pair of doubles, two home runs, nine RBIs and four runs. The Wichita, Kansas native has also shown a tremendous eye, drawing seven walks for a .410 on-base percentage. Finney has also made a pair of starts in the circle during April, throwing 10 innings of shutout ball with just seven hits allowed and 12 strikeouts, including a career-high eight against Belmont.
BORGEN'S BIG BREAK?
Over her last four appearances, freshman Anna Borgen has been nothing short of sensational. The lefty hurler has thrown 8.1 innings out of the bullpen in those contests, surrendering just a single base runner via a walk. Borgen completed the final two games against ULM, going six up and six down before earning the save with the final out in the opener at UTEP. The freshman then shut down a Miner side in the second game that had left eight players on base in the first three innings and retired all 12 batters she faced. Finally, Borgen pitched the final two frames in the night cap against Alcorn State, tossing two perfect frames with a pair of strikeouts. Borgen has retired each of the last 19 batters she has faced.
ON DECK
After completing this weekend's series, Ole Miss will return home for four games at the Ole Miss Softball Complex to conclude the regular season. The Rebs will first take on Alabama State on May 2 to wrap up non-conference play before welcoming Georgia to Oxford for a three-game series during the final week of SEC play.
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.
