The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
#6 Florida
Softball Welcomes Gators to Oxford for Top-25 Showdown
3/28/2019 | Softball
Ole Miss Looking to Buck History When Facing Florida
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No. 22 OLE MISS (22-8, 3-2 SEC) vs. No. 6 FLORIDA (28-6, 2-4 SEC) March 29-31 Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,00) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • Florida Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Friday, Mar. 29 6 p.m.  |
Saturday, Mar. 30 1 p.m. |
Sunday, Mar. 31 12 p.m. |
| Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats |
PROMOTIONS
Friday
• 90's Night! Friday's game will feature a 90's theme, with 90's era giveaways available throughout the game.
• Bingo Fridays! Every Friday fans can play Softball Bingo. All bingo winners will go home with free Chick-Fil-A.
• Free Crawfish! Crawfish will be available for fans to enjoy before the game in the outfield seating section.
Sunday
• Sandlot Kids Take Over the Park! Numerous game experiences available for kids to take part in before, during and after the game!
• Sandlot Poster Giveaway!
• Postgame autographs and Kids Run the Bases presented by Belles and Beaus
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss returns home to the Ole Miss Softball Complex for a three-game SEC series against No. 6 Florida. The Rebels are 3-2 in league play, having split two games at No. 16 South Carolina this past weekend.
• The series finale between the Rebels and Gamecocks was cancelled due to rain on Monday after the game was halted heading into the fifth inning with Ole Miss leading 2-0.
• Florida has dominated the series, owning a 48-9 lead over the Rebels. However, Ole Miss came out on top in the most recent matchup, upsetting the then-No. 1 Gators 2-0 in the SEC Tournament on the way to claiming the first conference championship in school-history in 2017.
• Ole Miss has won 14 of its last 16 games, including eight of the previous nine.
• Ole Miss is ranked in all three major national polls for the second-consecutive week, ranking 13th in the Softball America Poll and 22nd in the NFCA Coaches Poll and USA Softball Poll.
• The Rebels came in at No. 13 in the most recent NCAA RPI report. Ole Miss was slotted No. 15 in the initial set of rankings, the highest ranking in the initial report in school-history.
• Kylan Becker is currently on an eight-game hitting streak, while Autumn Gillespie has hit safely in seven-consecutive games.
• Molly Jacobsen allowed no runs in eight complete innings Sunday at South Carolina, registering her fourth shutout of the season. The Iowa native has not allowed a run in her last 17 innings.
• Jacobsen currently leads the SEC and ranks ninth nationally with a 1.04 ERA.
• Florida is ranked No. 6 in the NFCA Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the USA Softball Poll, coming in at No. 8 in the RPI rankings.
• The Gator pitching staff ranks second in the SEC with a 1.76 team ERA, three points lower than third-place Ole Miss.
SCOUTING REPORT
Florida is in its 14th season under head coach Tim Walton. During his time in Gainesville, Walton has built the
Gator program into one of the very best in college softball and a perennial national championship contender. Under Walton, the Gators have won seven SEC Championships, including each of the past four, advancing to the Women's College World Series nine times and winning a pair of National Championships. Since 2008, Florida has not been seeded any lower than No. 5 overall in the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators come to Oxford with a 28-6 overall record, struggling through the start of SEC play at 2-4 after back-to-back 1-2 series losses to Tennessee and LSU. With a pair of losses each to UCLA, Tennessee and LSU, Florida has not been defeated by a team ranked outside of the top-10 in the nation. The Gators have played just six true road games, boasting a 4-2 record in those contests.
Senior outfielder Amanda Lorenz leads the Gators with a .419 batting average, also pacing Florida with 31 runs and a .763 slugging percentage while adding in six doubles, eight home runs and a triple. Junior catcher Kendyl Lindaman, a transfer from Minnesota, has posted a .370 average at the plate, launching a team-high 10 home runs and driving in 34 runs to lead the Gators. Sophomore infielder Hannah Adams is another name to watch, entering the series with a .341 average, seven doubles, a triple, two homers, 22 runs and 17 RBIs.
Pitching has carried the Gators through the first half of the season, ranking second in the SEC with a 1.76 ERA (three points ahead of Ole Miss), holding opponents to a measly .178 batting average to lead the league. Through 34 games, Florida pitchers have posted 19 shutouts (13 solo/six combined).
The workhorse in the circle for the Gators is a name known nationally in the softball world in Senior Kelly Barnhill. The two-time All-American and 2017 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year holds an 18-3 record in 24 appearances, 19 starts and 109.0 innings, registering a 1.22 ERA and a .140 opponent batting average to lead the team. Sophomore Natalie Lugo has made 16 appearances and nine starts, posting a 7-3 record and a 1.88 ERA in 59.2 innings.
REBELS AND GAMECOCKS SETTLE FOR A SPLIT
Ole Miss split its two official games this past weekend at No. 16 South Carolina, dropping the opener before upending the Gamecocks on Sunday in Columbia. Scoring was at a premium in the series, with South Carolina earning a 2-0 win on Monday in a game that featured just six total hits. The Rebels bounced back the following day in another pitching duel, with Molly Jacobsen tossing an eight-inning shutout and Jessica Puk crushing a leadoff homer in the eighth to give Ole Miss the win in its first extra innings affair of the season.
The Rebels and Gamecocks played four complete innings in what was supposed to be the series finale on Monday, with Ole Miss leading 2-0 behind Brittany Finney's two-run homer in the fourth. However, rain caused play to be halted before the fifth frame could begin and under conference rules the inning was not allowed to begin after 9 p.m. local time, resulting in the game being cancelled.
MIAMI HEAT
Having reached safely in 28 of 30 games, including at least one hit in 25 contests, it's no surprise that Kylan Becker has had a number of hot streaks this season. The Miami native is on another one entering this weekend's series, having posted a base knock in eight-consecutive games. During the eight-game stretch, the senior is batting .538 with eight runs scored and seven runs driven in, adding in three walks for a .586 OBP. The speedy center fielder has also been impossible to stop on the bases, stealing successfully in all five attempts.
Had the Rebels' game Monday at South Carolina not gotten washed out, Becker's numbers would be even more eye-popping as the senior was 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of steals when play was halted.
MARCHING ON
Since the turn of the calendar over from February to March, no Rebel has been hotter than junior catcher Autumn Gillespie. Gillespie has hit safely in 14-of-15 games during the month, entering this weekend on a seven-game hitting streak. The Redlands, California native is batting .463 in March with four doubles, three triples and a pair of home runs, driving in nine runs and scoring 12 more. Gillespie has also drawn three walks and taken four hit-by-pitches to record a .542 on-base percentage during the month.
MOVING ON UP
For a second-consecutive week, Ole Miss is a consensus ranked team in all three of the major national polls, moving up in each set of rankings. The Rebels are slotted at No. 13 in the Softball America Poll, two spots up from their No. 15 ranking last week. Ole Miss moved up one and two places respectively in the USA Softball Poll and NFCA Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 22 in both.
REBS IN THE RPI
Ole Miss moved up one spot in the second NCAA RPI report of the 2019 season, sliding in at No. 14. Ole Miss owns five wins over teams ranked in the top-30 (No. 10 Minnesota, No. 13 Oklahoma State, No. 27 Arkansas), while six of the Rebels' seven losses have come against teams ranked in the top-30 (No. 3 UCLA, No. 6 Texas, No. 22 Tulsa, No. 23 Boise State, No. 27 Arkansas). The Rebels have a chance to pick up some more high-quality RPI wins this weekend, with Florida ranked at No. 8.
LUCKY NUMBER 7
Coming into this season, one of the biggest questions around Ole Miss was how Junior College Pitcher of the Year Molly Jacobsen would make the adjustment from the JUCO ranks to not only Division I softball but the greatest conference in America. Well, "so far, so good" doesn't begin to cover it. The lefty has the lowest ERA in the SEC at 1.04 (good for ninth nationally), fourth in walks per seven IP (1.14), fifth in shutouts (4), sixth in saves (2), eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.33) and ninth in strikeouts (100). The Iowa native has not allowed a run in her last 17 innings pitched.
BECKER'S RECORD-BREAKING DAY
When senior Kylan Becker finds the gap, you can pretty much pencil her in for third base. Demonstrating her incredible wheels once she gets going, the Miami native has smacked three more three-baggers in her career than she has doubles. The Rebel center fielder was up to it again in the doubleheader against Samford and Oklahoma State, cranking out two triples on the day to make some history. The second of the day was the 13th of her career and sixth this season, setting new career and single season records for triples at Ole Miss. The six during her senior campaign are good for the third most in the country.
GO THREE! GO THREE!
With speed in bunches Mike Smith's teams are always extremely aggressive on the base path and that aggression shows up when looking at Ole Miss' power numbers. The Rebels rank sixth in the nation in triples per game at 0.47, with three players in the top-75 nationally in three-baggers. Kylan Becker's six triples is third most in Division I, while her 0.20 triples per game is good for fourth. Kaylee Horton and Autumn Gillespie have legged out two triples apiece, tying for 74th in the nation with 0.10 triples per game.
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. The Rebels rank eighth in the nation with a 4.24 strikeout-to-walk ratio, allowing one or fewer bases on balls in 19 games in 2019. Ole Miss ranks eighth in the nation with 42 total walks, second fewest in the conference.
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. Ole Miss ranks 11th in the nation and fourth in the SEC with a 1.79 team ERA. When the pitching staff is in prime form, the Rebels are nearly unbeatable, posting a 17-1 record when allowing two runs or fewer this season. The Rebels have allowed more than three runs in just seven games in 2019, registering a 21-2 record in all other contests.
BOMB SQUAD
After posting just 27 home runs all of last season, Ole Miss has already registered 22 big flies in 2019, putting the Rebels on pace to crank out just over 38 round trippers on the year. After Abbey Latham led Ole Miss with seven homers in 2018, Jessica Puk has matched Latham's seven dingers through just 30 games to lead the team, with Brittany Finney close behind with six to her credit. Latham and Autumn Gillespie aren't far behind, smacking four and three long balls, 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 12 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 16 of their 30 contests, posting a 14-2 record in those ball games. Ole Miss has failed to put a runner on in the opening frame just five times in 2019. Additionally, the Rebels have cracked the scoreboard first 21 times this season, going 17-4 in those games. In general, the Rebs have done most of their damage in the early going, scoring 97 of their 162 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 71-of-89 attempts to rank second in the SEC and rank ninth in the nation in steals per game at 2.37. Kylan Becker leads the team and ranks third in the league with 18 swiped bags, with Kaylee Horton tied for fourth with 14 and Abbey Latham tying for 10th with 11 steals.
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.
