The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Missouri
Missouri Series On Tap for Rebel Softball
4/11/2019 | Softball
Ole Miss to Open Three-Game Set with Tigers With Friday Doubleheader
 |
NO. 17 OLE MISS (28-10, 7-4 SEC) vs. MISSOURI (23-16, 6-6 SEC) Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,000) |
 |
||||||
| Ole Miss Notes • Missouri Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Friday, April 12 3 p.m.  |
Friday, April 12 6 p.m. |
Sunday, April 14 1 p.m. |
| Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats |
PROMOTIONS
Friday
• The second game will be Ole Miss' annual Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night
• Free Crawfish will also be available in the outfield seating section for the second game
Sunday
• Pregame Easter Egg Hunt throughout the stadium
• All kids will have the opportunity to stand on the field for the National Anthem
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss resumes SEC play with a three-game series against Missouri at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. The series schedule was shifted due to forecasted weather in Oxford, with the Rebels and Tigers meeting up in a doubleheader on Friday before concluding the series Sunday.
• The relatively new conference rivals have played just 14 times previously, with Missouri owning an 11-3 advantage in the series. However, after early dominance form the Tigers the Rebels have turned things around, winning three of the last four matchups.
• Ole Miss is coming off of a 3-2 win over UAB in eight innings on Wednesday, with freshman Mikayla Allee drawing a bases loaded walk to secure the walk-off victory for the Rebs.
• With the wins over the Blazers, the Rebels have been victorious in 20 of their last 24 games.
• Ole Miss' 7-4 start to SEC play is the best record through 11 conference games in program-history. The Rebels are currently sitting in fourth in the SEC standings.
• The Rebels have yet to lose in 2019 when outhitting their opponent, earning the win in all 22 occurrences this season.
• Ole Miss has racked up 10 wins over teams ranked in the top-25 in the nation. Last season, the Rebels earned just eight ranked wins over the entirety of the season.
• Ole Miss remains inside the top-20 in all three national polls, coming in at No. 17 in the NFCA Poll, No. 15 in the USA Softball Poll and even as high as No. 9 in the Softball America Poll. The No. 9 ranking is the highest the Rebels have ever climbed in one of the national polls.
• The Rebels stayed steady at No. 12 in the most recent NCAA RPI report. It is the highest RPI ranking in the history of Ole Miss Softball.The Rebels own 10 wins over top-30 RPI teams, including three in the top-15.
SCOUTING REPORT
The Tigers are in their first season under head coach Larissa Anderson, who took over the helm of the Missouri program after spending four years building the Hofstra Pride into a mid-major power. During her stay on Long Island, Anderson and the Pride posted a 130-73-1 record, claiming a pair of Colonial Athletic Association titles and earning two trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a run to the regional championship game in 2018 against South Carolina.
Mizzou enters this weekend's series with a 23-16 overall record, tied for seventh in the SEC standings with a 6-6 league mark. After starting the season 11-11, the Tigers have rebounded nicely to get well over .500, winning 10 of their last 15 games, including six victories over ranked teams. Mizzou is 6-4 on the road in 2019, splitting their six SEC games away from home.
At the plate, freshman infielder Jazmyn Rollin leads the Tigers with a .410 batting average and 29 runs scored, ranking second with seven home runs and third with 26 RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Abby George isn't far behind at .400, though she's seen limited action with just 40 total at-bats. Sophomore infielder Brooke WIlmes is another one to watch, sitting at .333 with 11 doubles, two triples and three big flies, driving in 29 runs and scoring 28 more. Sophomore infielder Kim Wert is batting below .300 but is a tremendous power threat, easily leading the team with 15 home runs and 41 RBIs.
Six different pitchers have seen action for Mizzou, although three are primarily used by Anderson and company. Senior Madi Norman has by far the most innings pitched at 113.1, owning an 11-7 record in 23 appearances and 21 starts with a 2.72 ERA. Sophomore Cassie Gasper is next in line with 73.2 frames in 20 appearances and 13 starts, earning a 9-4 record with a 2.85 ERA. Having made just three starts, junior Eli Daniel has been used primarily in relief in her 19 appearances, sitting at 2-3 with four saves and a 2.78 ERA.
CRUNCH TIME
During her first collegiate season, freshman Mikayla Allee has shown a knack for coming up clutch in the biggest moments. The Corona, California native has just six total RBIs to her credit in 2019 but of the six, four have been game-winners. Allee was up to her old tricks in Wednesday's battle with UAB, drawing a walk with the bases loaded to score the winning run and give Ole Miss the walk-off win. It was the second walk-off RBI of the year for the Rebel shortstop after she squeezed home the winner earlier in the campaign against Pitt.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE OXFORD
While the Rebels have been in winning form for much of the season, the level of play has been ramped up to an even higher level inside the walls at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. Ole Miss sits at 15-2 in the comfy confines of their home stadium, having won every single non-conference matchup in Oxford. Junior Autumn Gillespie has especially dialed in her game at the Ole Miss Softball Complex, batting .375 with 8 of her 10 extra-base hits and 11 of her 15 RBIs coming in Oxford.
IT JUST MEANS MORE WINS
Through its first four SEC matchups of 2019, Ole Miss has yet to drop a series. The Rebels have earned three conference series wins, splitting their two games with South Carolina earlier in the year. The three SEC series wins is already tied for the most in program-history, with four series yet to be played. Ole Miss currently sits in fourth in the league standings with a 7-4 record, one half game back of a tie for second. The Rebels have never finished higher than eighth in the final SEC standings.
BLUEGRASS BOUNCE BACK
After suffering arguably its worst defeat of the season in Friday's opener, Ole Miss bounced back with a doubleheader sweep over then-No. 22 Kentucky on Saturday to claim the series, its third series victory in SEC play this season. Just as the Wildcats had done the day before, the Rebs jumped out to a big lead early in the first game, riding a four-run first inning to a comfortable 8-4 victory. Ole Miss again struck early and led the majority of the way in the nightcap, but Kentucky was able to tie the game at two apiece late. However, Amanda Roth blasted a solo homer to leadoff the first and the Rebels never looked back, scoring four runs in the frame to earn a 6-2 win.
Brittany Finney was excellent in the circle, picking up wins in both games after tossing a complete game in the first affair and finishing things off with a pair of scoreless innings in the later game. Roth had a breakout week, batting .538 with four extra-base hits, six RBIs and three runs scored, while Tate Whitley batted .462 with a double and a run scored.
FINNEY'S FINE FORM
In recent games, senior right-handed pitcher Brittany Finney has had all of her stuff working in the circle. The Wichita, Kansas native has picked up the win in each of her last five appearances, surrendering just three earned runs in 16.1 innings of work, picking up 15 strikeouts along the way. In general, the senior has been electric in the circle all season, allowing more than two earned runs in just three games in 2019, with the last coming back on March 9.
RUN AT YOUR OWN RISK
Over her two seasons at Ole Miss, junior catcher Autumn Gillespie has established herself as one of the most feared arms not only in the SEC but across the nation. The Redlands, California native leads the league having caught 11 runners attempting to steal. With just 18 total steals attempted against her in 2019, Gillespie has gunned down 61.1 percent of runners risky enough to attempt to swipe a base.
STRONG OUT OF THE GATES
One of the keys to success offensively for the Rebels this season has been the ability to get early action on the bases. As a team, Ole Miss' batters have a .416 on-base percentage when leading off an inning, up from the overall team OBP of .362. Six Rebels are at or above .500 as the leadoff, led by Abbey Latham at .556. Jessica Puk is close behind at .552, followed by Autumn Gillespie (.526), Mikayla Allee (.526), Alyssa Pinto (.500) and Amanda Roth (.500).
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 seventh in the nation in triples per game at 0.39. Kylan Becker's seven triples is third-most in Division I, while her 0.18 triples per game is also good for third.
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 11th in the nation with a 4.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio, allowing one or fewer bases on balls in 23 games in 2019. Ole Miss ranks 12th in the nation with 58 total walks, second fewest in the conference. Additionally, Ole Miss boasts three of the nation's top-100 pitchers in walks allowed per seven innings pitched, led by Molly Jacobsen (66th, 1.44) and followed by Brittany Finney (76th, 1.51) and Ava Tillmann (86th, 1.58).
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 second in the SEC with a 2.05 team ERA, the 21st-lowest in the nation. When the pitching staff is in prime form, the Rebels are nearly unbeatable, posting a 21-1 record when allowing two runs or fewer this season. The Rebels have allowed more than three runs in just 11 games in 2019, registering a 25-2 record in all other contests.
BOMB SQUAD
After posting just 27 home runs all of last season, Ole Miss has already registered 31 big flies in 2019, putting the Rebels on pace to crank out over 42 round trippers on the year. After Abbey Latham led Ole Miss with seven homers in 2018, Jessica Puk has already bested that number with eight big flies to pace the Rebels, while Abbey Latham and Brittany Finney are close behind with seven big flies apiece this season. In total, eight different Rebels have left the park in 2019.
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 21 of their 38 contests, posting a 19-2 record in those ball games. Ole Miss has failed to put a runner on in the opening frame just six times in 2019. Additionally, the Rebels have cracked the scoreboard first 26 times this season, going 22-4 in those games. In general, the Rebs have done most of their damage in the early going, scoring 121 of their 207 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 87-of-108 attempts to rank second in the SEC and ninth in the nation in steals per game at 2.29. Kylan Becker leads the team and ranks third in the league with 22 swiped bags, with Kaylee Horton in fourth with 16 and Abbey Latham tied for fifth with 14 steals.
