The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
#14 Arkansas
Softball Jumps into SEC Play with Weekend Series Against Arkansas
3/8/2019 | Softball
Rebels to Host Razorbacks in Three-Game Set Saturday through Monday
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OLE MISS (14-6, 0-0 SEC) vs. NO. 14 ARKANSAS (18-3, 0-0 SEC) Mar. 9-11 Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,000) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • Arkansas Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Saturday, Mar. 9 • 7 p.m. | Sunday, Mar. 10 • 5 p.m. | Monday, Mar. 11 • 6 p.m. |
| Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats |
PROMOTIONS
Sunday
• Post game team autographs and Kids Run the Bases presented by Belles & Beaus
Monday
• White Out Game! The first 200 fans will receive an I ♥ Bacon T-Shirt
• Free Crawfish! Crawfish will be available for fans to enjoy before the game in the outfield seating section.
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss welcomes the Arkansas Razorbacks to the Ole Miss Softball Complex this weekend for a three-game series to open up SEC play. The Rebels and Hogs will faceoff Saturday through Monday.
• Saturday's game will be streamed via SEC Network +, while both Sunday and Monday's games will be broadcasted to the nation on your television set on the SEC Network.
• The Razorbacks lead the all-time series 34-28 after sweeping all three games last season in Fayetteville. However, prior to last season's sweep, Ole Miss had won 12 of the previous 14 meetings.
• Arkansas is ranked No. 14 in the NFCA Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 15 in the USA Softball Poll.
• Fresh off of a 7-2 victory over Austin Peay on Wednesday, the Rebs are riding a six-game winning streak. Ole Miss is undefeated at home this season, posting a perfect 5-0 record.
• Senior Kylan Becker has been on fire over the last six games. The reigning SEC Player of the Week is batting .667 over the stretch with one double, a pair of triples, one home run, 10 runs scored and seven RBIs.
• Becker also extended her reached base streak to 19 games, finding a way on base in every game after being shut down in the season opener. The Miami native is also riding a seven-game hitting streak, one short of her season-high.
• In the victory over the Governors, sophomore Jessica Puk launched her fifth home run of the season to take sole possession of the team lead. With 15 dingers so far this season, the Rebels are on pace to shatter last season's mark of 27 big flies.
• Junior college transfer Molly Jacobsen has been a revelation in the circle for the Rebels. The junior boasts a 6-1 record with a 1.05 ERA, ranking 10th in the nation with a 9.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
SCOUTING REPORT
The Razorbacks are in their fourth season under head coach Courtney Deifel, who became the fourth head coach in Arkansas history in 2015 after one season at the helm of the program at Maryland. During her stint in Fayetteville, Deifel has built the Razorbacks into a national power, winning 42 games in 2018, hosting a regional and advancing to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Hogs enter SEC play with an 18-3 overall record, winners of their last eight games, including a 5-0 record as hosts of the Wooo Pig Classic this past weekend with wins over Omaha, Nevada and Boston. The Razorbacks have played just one true road game this season, defeating McNeese State 6-0 in Lake Charles back on opening day.
Arkansas newcomer Danielle Gibson has been on fire in her first season in the SEC after transferring from Arizona State. The sophomore leads the team with a .448 batting average, 27 RBIs, 19 runs scored and six homers, also racking up six doubles. Gibson rose to national fame earlier in the season becoming the second player in NCAA softball history to hit for the home run cycle. Sophomore Hannah McEwen has also been in excellent form, batting .400 with a team-high seven doubles, tying Gibson for the Arkansas lead with 19 runs scored. Senior Katie Warrick is another to watch for Arkansas, posting a .377 average at the plate with five doubles and four big flies, driving in 17 runs.
In the circle, sophomore Mary Haff and junior Autumn Storms have been workhorses with nearly identical statistics. Haff has thrown 67.1 innings in 15 appearances and 11 starts with a 1.46 ERA, while Storms has tossed 67.0 frames in 13 appearances and 10 starts, earning the same 1.46 ERA. The only real difference to split the two has been runs allowed, of which Haff has been saddled with 17 and Storms has been touched for 30. However, 16 of Storms' runs allowed have been unearned, giving both pitchers an identical 14 earned runs tallied.
SERIES HISTORY
The Rebels and Razorbacks have faced off a total of 72 times over the years, playing each other 18 out of the last 20 years (did not play in 2013 or 2017). After sweeping the series in Fayetteville last year, the Razorbacks hold a slim lead at 34-28, though Ole Miss claims a 16-15 record when the conference rivals face off in Oxford. Last season's sweep broke a run of good form against Arkansas for the Rebels, who had won six-straight against the Razorbacks and 12 of the previous 14 meetings. Arkansas was extremely dominant during the early stages of the series, winning 18 of the first 20 matchups.
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. Ole Miss is tied for the sixth most triples in the country with nine, thanks in large part to their leadoff hitter. Kylan Becker's four triple baggers in 2019 is the second 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 leads the Rebels with five home runs, four doubles and a .760 slugging percentage, batting .380 and driving home 16 runs to rank second on the team. With her increased production, Puk has raised her slugging percentage and batting average by 481 and 171 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. The Rebels rank 14th in the nation with a 4.21 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 seventh fewest walks per eighth innings in NCAA Division I softball at 0.60, ranking 10th nationally with a 9.25 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. Ole Miss ranks 23rd in the nation and seventh in the SEC with a 1.74 team ERA, with junior Molly Jacobsen leading the way at 1.05. Jacobsen's earned run average is good for the 31st best in Division I, coming in at No. 5 in the SEC. When the pitching staff is in prime form, the Rebels are nearly unbeatable, posting an 11-0 record when allowing two or less runs this season.
DRIVING 'EM HOME
Last season, catcher Autumn Gillespie led the Rebels with 30 RBIs for the season. Through 20 games, numerous Rebels are well on pace to shatter that mark. Sophomore Abbey Latham leads the team with 17 RBIs, while sophomore Jessica Puk is just one behind with 16. Senior Brittany Finney is also keeping close tabs on the pair of second-year players, having delivered 12 RBIs thus far.
BOMB SQUAD
After posting just 27 home runs all of last season, Ole Miss has already registered 15 big flies in 2019, putting the Rebels on pace to crank out just over 40 round trippers on the year. While, Abbey Latham led the Rebs with seven dingers in 2018, Jessica Puk is already closing in on that number with five on the year and Latham and Brittany Finney are just one behind with four round trippers this season. 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 eight 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 13 of their 20 contests, posting an 11-2 record in those ball games. Ole Miss has failed to put a runner on in the opening frame just three times in 2019. Additionally, the Rebels have cracked the scoreboard first 15 times this season, going 11-4 in those games. In general, the Rebs have done most of their damage in the early going, scoring 51 of their 91 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 56-of-70 attempts to lead the SEC, ranking seventh in the nation in steals per game at 2.80. The Rebels have three players in the top-10 in the SEC in steals, with Kylan Becker ranking third with 13, Kaylee Horton coming in a tie for fifth with 10 and Abbey Latham tied for seventh with eight swiped bags.
OH. MY. GAWD. BECKY.
After batting .647 over five games and helping the Rebels to an undefeated week, senior Kylan Becker was named the Week 4 SEC Player of the Week, the second POTW honor of her career. The Miami native knocked in seven runs and scored seven more, showing off her power with a double, a triple and a home run. The speedy outfielder got the week started with a bang against Central Arkansas, going 4-for-5 with four runs scored and driven in, following up with a pair of hits and three more hits against Nicholls to open the Ole Miss Classic.
FRESHIES LEAD THE WAY
During last week's Ole Miss Classic, the Rebels completed their first seventh-inning comeback of the season to avoid an upset loss to the Pitt Panthers, entering the final frame trailing 2-3, the Rebels got a rally going and pulled off the walk-off victory, thanks largely to Ole Miss' freshman class. Newby Tate Whitley tied the game with a clutch RBI single before freshman Mikayla Allee laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to bring rookie Katelin Cooper across the plate for the winning run.
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.
