The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Samford
Softball Set for Four-Game Weekend, Hosts Samford and Oklahoma State
3/14/2019 | Softball
Rebels Welcome Bulldogs and No. 18 Cowgirls to Oxford
Dates: Mar. 15-17
First Pitch: Fri.: 6 p.m. | Sat.: 4 p.m. | Sun.: 1 p.m./4 p.m.
Opponents: Samford, Oklahoma State
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Ole Miss Softball Complex
TV: SEC Network +
PxP: Seth Austin
Analyst: Missy Dickerson
Live Stats: OleMissSport.com
Twitter Updates: @OleMissSoftball
PROMOTIONS
Friday
• Softball Bingo! All bingo winners will go home with free Chick-Fil-A.
Saturday
• Team Picture Day! After the game, all fans come onto the field to get their picture taken with the team.
Sunday
• Pot-o-Gold Day! All fans have the opportunity to win a gift cards, Ole Miss gear and more throughout the Oklahoma State game.
• Post-game autographs and Kids Run the Bases presented by Belles and Beaus after the Oklahoma State game.
LEADING OFF
• Playing in its SEC bye week, Ole Miss welcomes the Samford Bulldogs and the Oklahoma State Cowgirls to Oxford for two games apiece at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
• Ole Miss leads the all-time series Samford 10-3, winning 7-of-3 matchups in the Magnolia State. The Rebels have beaten Oklahoma State in just one of the eight meetings between the two sides.
• The Rebels are ranked for the first time in 2019, coming in at No. 25 in the Softball America Poll. Ole Miss is also receiving votes in both the NFCA Coaches Poll and the USA Softball Poll.
• Oklahoma State is ranked No. 18 in the NFCA Coaches Poll, earning the No. 14 spot in the USA Softball Poll.
• Ole Miss is coming off of an 8-0 shutout victory in six innings over nearby rival Memphis on Wednesday. The Rebels concluded a 2-1 weekend against Arkansas this past weekend in Ole Miss' SEC opener.
• The Rebels have won nine of their last 10 games, including eight of its last nine at home.
• Oklahoma State is boasting a winning streak of its own, having rattle off eight-consecutive wins entering their Thursday night showdown at Central Arkansas, including a sweep this past weekend of then No. 24 Oregon.
• Conversely, Samford has struggled as of late, dropping 10 of their last 14 games.
• The Rebels will see some familiar faces this weekend, with both teams having former SEC players on their rosters. Oklahoma State has three SEC transfers in Samantha Show (Texas A&M), Sydney Springfield (LSU) and Gabby Spring (Tennessee), while Samford junior Maddie Dorsett spent her first two collegiate seasons at Mississippi State.
• Junior college transfer Molly Jacobsen sits at 8-1 for the season after earning three wins last week. The lefty ranks fourth in the SEC with a 0.88 ERA and has allowed one run or fewer in 10 of her 12 appearances.
SCOUTING REPORT
• Samford is in its eighth season under head coach and former Alabama Crimson Tide player Mandy Burford-Johnson. The 2016 SoCon Coach of the Year, Burford Johnson led the Bulldogs to their only-ever NCAA Tournament appearance that season. The Bulldogs have struggled in 2019, losing six of their first seven games and coming into the weekend with a 9-18 record.
Samford has had a hard time getting its offense going, with no single Bulldog batting over .300 for the year. Senior Madison Couch leads the team at .299, tying for the team lead with 14 RBIs on four doubles, a triple and four home runs, also scoring 12 runs. Junior Whitney Hinton is another name to watch, coming to Oxford with a .293 average with a team-best five doubles to go along with three homers, matching Couch's 14 runs driven in.
The Bulldogs have used a Johnny-wholestaff approach to their pitching staff, with five pitchers logging at least 20 innings in the circle. Junior Taylor Decelles has made 14 appearances and seven starts, owning a 2-7 record and a 4.67 ERA in 57.0 innings. Sophomore McKenna Gillespie leads the team with eight starts, registering a 2-3 record with a 4.27 ERA in 37.2 frames.
• Oklahoma State is in its fourth season with alum Kenny Gajewski at the helm. Gajewski has turned the Cowgirls into a group to be reckoned with, earning an NCAA bid each of the past three seasons. Entering their midweek tilt with Central Arkansas on Thursday, OSU is 18-5 on the season, riding an eight-game winning streak.
Despite only making 17 appearances and eight starts, freshman Chyenne Factor leads the Cowgirls with a .448 batting average, posting three doubles, three home runs, 10 RBIs and nine runs scored. Senior Madi Sue Montgomery paces OSU with eight doubles, adding a triple four homers, 23 RBIs and 16 runs with a .354 average. Former Texas A&M standout Samantha Show has added tremendous power to the Cowgirl lineup, cranking a team-high seven homers and matching Montgomery with eighth two-baggers, while also driving in a team-best 24 runs.
Show also leads OSU in the circle, earning a 7-2 record in 13 appearances and nine starts, recording seven complete games, three shutouts and a 1.81 ERA. Junior Logan Simunek has thrown 41.0 innings in 12 appearances and six starts, boasting a 4-2 record with a 3.24 ERA.
OWNING THE AREA
Ole Miss made quick work of nearby rivals Memphis on Wednesday, defeating the Tigers 8-0 in six innings via the run rule. The Rebs did the bulk of their damage in the second, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs on six hits. Ole Miss was equally impressive in the circle, with sophomore Ava Tillmann and freshman Savannah Diederich combining for a shutout, surrendering just one single hit.
REBS START STRONG IN SEC PLAY
Evening a series sweep on the road in 2018, Ole Miss took 2-of-3 games over then-No. 14 Arkansas in the Rebels' opening SEC series. Ole Miss jumped ahead but ultimately fell to the Hogs in the series opener but rebounded with back-to-back impressive showings to claim the series. It was the first time that Ole Miss has opened league play with a series win since 2012, when the Rebels took both ends of a doubleheader in Fayetteville against the very same Arkansas Razorbacks.
Ole Miss was especially impressive in the Sunday night matchup between the two sides. The Rebels cranked out 12 runs to run-rule the Hogs in five innings. It was the biggest win over an SEC foe since a 13-0 victory over Arkansas back during that 2012 series and the largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in the history of the program. Much of the heavy lifting came from the middle of the order, as Jessica Puk, Autumn Gillespie, Amanda Roth, Kaylee Horton and Brittany Finney combined to go 8-for-12 at the plate with 10 RBIs and eight runs scored.
THAT'S GONNA BE ON SPORTSCENTER!
During a weekend full of highlights in Ole Miss' 2-1 series win over Arkansas, Kylan Becker waited until just about the very last moment to make one that is sure to stand the test of time in Ole Miss lore. Playing in her 200th game in a Rebel uniform, the speedy center fielder made one of the finest web gems you will ever see, leaping high in the air to make an incredible catch while crashing into the outfield fence, robbing the Razorbacks' Taylor Greene of a home run. The play did not go unnoticed, earning the No. 1 spot in Sportscenter's #SCTop10 and even drawing the eye of former MLB center field standout Torii Hunter on Twitter.
SLAPPING 'EM IN
A big key behind Ole Miss' 29 runs over its four games last week was the run production of right fielder Kaylee Horton. The Jasper, Alabama native used her .417 average for the week to drive in eight Rebel runs. With 41 total RBIs for her career, the week accounted for just under 20 percent of the junior's career run production. Horton kept her hot streak going Wednesday against Memphis, tallying an RBI single in the second.
GET ON YOUR HORSE
With the amount of speed on the Rebels' roster, it's no surprise that the team has a knack for stretching base hits for extra bases. Through games played on March 12, Ole Miss is tied for the fifth most triples in the country with 10, thanks in large part to their leadoff hitter. Kylan Becker's four triple baggers in 2019 is the fifth most in the NCAA and puts the senior in position to make some history. At 11 in a Rebel jersey, Becker is now just one triple shy of Miranda Strother's career record at Ole Miss, while the four this year are tied for the second most in a single season, matching her own total from 2017 and just one shy of Strother's record of five that same year.
SOPHOMORE ASCENSION
After starting just eight games and taking only 43 at-bats during her first collegiate season, sophomore Jessica Puk has experienced a renaissance during her second year to cement herself as a fixture in the Rebel lineup. The Iowa native has registered five home runs, five doubles and a .695 slugging percentage, batting .356 and driving home 19 runs to rank second on the team. With her increased production, Puk has raised her slugging percentage and batting average by 416 and 147 points, respectively.
NO EASY BASES
If there is one area the Ole Miss pitching staff has particularly excelled at this season it has been the ability to keep the ball in the strike zone. Through the most updated rankings, the Rebels rank 14th in the nation with a 3.84 strikeout-to-walk ratio, allowing one or fewer bases on balls in 14 games in 2019. In a group full of accurate throwers, junior Molly Jacobsen has stood out. The junior college transfer has surrendered the 25th fewest walks per seven innings in NCAA Division I softball at 1.00, ranking 22nd nationally with a 6.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
STINGY IN THE CIRCLE
One of the keys to success for the Rebels in 2019 has been the pitching staff's ability to keep runs to a minimum for the opposing side. Through the most updated rankings, Ole Miss ranks 30th in the nation and seventh in the SEC with a 1.89 team ERA, with junior Molly Jacobsen leading the way at 0.88. Jacobsen's earned run average is good for the 17th best in Division I, coming in at No. 4 in the SEC. When the pitching staff is in prime form, the Rebels are nearly unbeatable, posting a 14-0 record when allowing two runs or fewer this season.
BOMB SQUAD
After posting just 27 home runs all of last season, Ole Miss has already registered 17 big flies in 2019, putting the Rebels on pace to crank out just under 39 round trippers on the year. After going deep twice this past week, Brittany Finney has overtaken sole possession of the team lead with six for the season, with Jessica Puk and Abbey Latham closing in with five and four, respectively. Even slapper Kylan Becker has gotten in on the fun, leaving the yard for just the second time in her career. The Rebels will hope to have some more runners on base when going long in the future, with nine of Ole Miss' dingers being of the solo variety.
FAST STARTS
The Rebels have wasted absolutely no time in getting action rolling so far this season. The Rebels have scored in the first inning in 14 of their 24 contests, posting a 12-2 record in those ball games. Ole Miss has failed to put a runner on in the opening frame just four times in 2019. Additionally, the Rebels have cracked the scoreboard first 18 times this season, going 14-4 in those games. In general, the Rebs have done most of their damage in the early going, scoring 74 of their 121 total runs for the season in the game's first three innings.
RUNNIN' REBS
During the Mike Smith era, Ole Miss has always been known for using its speed on the base path. The 2019 season has been no different as the Rebels have used their speed and aggressive nature on the bases to create havoc for opposing defenses. The Rebels have stolen successfully on 59-of-76 attempts to lead the SEC, ranking ninth in the nation in steals per game at 2.43 (through the most updated rankings). Kylan Becker leads the team and ranks third in the league with 13 swiped bags, while Kaylee Horton has stolen 10 times to tie for sixth in the SEC.
For all Ole Miss softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole MissSoftball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16.
