Softball to Take On Southern Miss Wednesday in Final Non-Con Matchup

			No. 18 OLE MISS (33-12, 11-6 SEC) vs. SOUTHERN MISS (28-16, 11-7 C-USA) Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,000)
Ole Miss Notes • Southern Miss Notes • SEC Notes

Wednesday, April 24
6 p.m.

Watch • Live Stats

PROMOTIONS
• Second-Annual Have a Catch Night - kids welcomed onto the field postgame to play catch with the Rebel players
• $1 Hot Dogs

LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss takes on in-state foe Southern Miss on Wednesday night in what is the Rebels' final non-conference game of the season.
• Ole Miss leads the all-time series with the Golden Eagles at 21-12 after the two teams split their two matchups last season, with the away team coming out on top in both games. The Rebels and Southern Miss have faced off every season since 2000 with the exception of 2017.
• Ole Miss will be facing a familiar face in former Rebel Sarah Van Schaik. Van Schaik, who spent her first two collegiate seasons in Oxford, is third on the team with a .323 batting average, driving in 34 runs on the season to rank second at USM.
• Ole Miss is coming off of a 2-1 series victory on the road in Starkville against rival Mississippi State. It was the fifth SEC series victory of the season for the Rebels, a program-record. Ole Miss is the only team in the league not to lose a series thus far.
• The Rebels have been on a roll through the second half of the 2018 season, winning 25 of their last 31 games.
• Ole Miss' 11-6 start to SEC play is the best record through 17 conference games in program-history, with the 11 league wins tying the school-record. The Rebels are currently in third-place in the SEC standings, having never finished higher than eighth.
• The Rebels have yet to lose in 2019 when outhitting their opponent, earning the win in all 23 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. 18 in the USA Softball Poll and even as high as No. 9 in the Softball America Poll.
• The Rebels came in at No. 15 to remain in high standing in the latest NCAA RPI report. The Rebels own 12 wins over top-30 RPI teams, including three in the top-15 and eight in the top-20.

SCOUTING REPORT
Southern Miss is in its fifth season under head coach Wendy Hogue, who made a quick move across Hattiesburg after building local NAIA program William Carey into a powerhouse. Since her arrival, Hogue has turned around the Golden Eagle program nearly immediately, posting the school's first winning season since 2004 in 2016 and following up with the first consecutive winning seasons in Hattiesburg since 2000 and 2001 the following season. During her 10 seasons at William Carey, Hogue's Lady Crusaders made six NAIA Tournament Appearances with four Elite Eight Appearances and two trips to the Final Four.

Following a somewhat disappointing season last year, Southern Miss has built a strong resume in 2019, entering Wednesday's matchup with a 28-16 overall record, including 11-7 in Conference USA play to tie for fourth in the league. The Golden Eagles have done well away from home, posting a 10-5 record in road games.

Senior Chase Nelson leads the Golden Eagles with a .349 batting average, scoring 31 runs and adding in eight doubles and a pair of triples. Sophomore Destini Brown isn't far behind at .342, scoring a team-high 43 runs, tying for the team lead with seven home runs and adding five doubles and 22 RBIs. Brown is also the biggest base stealing threat for USM, successfully swiping 18-of-22 bags. Southern Miss boasts a trio of prolific run producers in RBI leader Lacey Summerlin (35), former Rebel Sarah Van Schaik (34) and sophomore Alyssa Davis (33).

In the circle, a bulk of the load has been put on the shoulders of junior Abby Trahan and the Louisiana native has come through. Trahan sits at 14-8 in 25 appearances and 23 starts, throwing 18 complete games and seven shutouts with a 1.38 ERA, 119 strikeouts and just 25 walks. Junior Bailie Springfield and freshmen Makenna Pierce and Kaylan Ladner have shared the rest of the innings, each with over 40 innings pitched. Ladner has tossed 56.1 frames with a 6-5 record and a 3.23 ERA, while Springfield has earned a 5-2 mark and a 2.13 ERA in her 46.0 innings and Pierce has garnered a 3-1 record and a 2.71 ERA in 41.1 innings.

BULLDOG BLUDGEONING
In Friday's opening game at Mississippi State, Ole Miss put on an offensive show the likes of which has never been seen in a conference game for the Rebels. The Rebs unloaded for 21 runs on 21 runs batted in and 17 hits, including nine runs in the opening frame at Nusz Park. The 21 runs was a school-record for an SEC game, just one run shy of tying the overall record. Meanwhile, the 21 RBIs recorded by Ole Miss tied the all-time record, with Jessica Puk and Amanda Roth each posting five apiece. Roth also tied the school-record with three doubles on the day. Meanwhile, it was the most convincing beating the Bulldogs have ever experienced in their history, setting the records for runs allowed, hits allowed and margin of victory.

Saturday's series finale was a different story with the same ending. The Rebels needed every single one of Brittany Finney's seven shutout innings during regulation, finally cracking the code on MSU's Emily Williams in the eighth on Autumn Gillespie's bases-clearing double. The Bulldogs would break through against Finney in the bottom half but the Rebs were able to hold on for the 3-1 win.

TRENDING UP
While the play of the Ole Miss pitching staff all season has been a key to the Rebels' success, as of late senior Brittany Finney and sophomore Ava Tillmann have upped their game to an even higher level. Finney has not lost a start since March 23 at South Carolina, winning seven-straight decisions to improve to 13-5 and take over the team-lead for wins. In her last 14 appearances, the senior has allowed more than two earned runs just once, including seven games with no earned runs surrendered.

Meanwhile, after starting out the season with a 1-2 record, sophomore pitcher Ava Tillmann has been on the rise. The righty flamethrower has won each of her last six decisions to improve to 7-2 on the year. Despite falling in two of her first three starts, the Georgia native has had solid showings all season long, allowing two earned runs or less in 14-of-16 appearances, including 1 run or less 10 times.

EXTRA! EXTRA!
With its win at Mississippi State on Saturday, Ole Miss locked up its fifth SEC series victory of the season, the most series wins for the Rebels in program-history with two yet left to play. Ole Miss has not dropped a league a series so far this season, with the only non-win coming in the weather-shortened two-game split with South Carolina. Having never finished higher than eighth in the SEC standings, Ole Miss currently sits in third in the league standings with an 11-6 record. The Rebels' 11 conference wins is tied for the program-record.

ROLLING THROUGH CONFERENCE PLAY
After playing the first 29 games of the season without going into extra-innings a single time, Ole Miss has need extra frames to concluded seven of its last 16 contests, including last Saturday's 3-1 win in eight innings at Mississippi State. The Rebels have been very successful when playing bonus softball, posting a 6-1 record in extra-inning, walking off three times. With 10 run-rule wins on the season, the Rebels have played the regulation seven innings in just 62.2 percent of their games.

MONEYBALL
While not posting the most eye-popping numbers in the Ole Miss lineup with a meager .164 batting average, freshman Mikayla Allee has found a way to contribute to the Rebel offense in other ways. The Corona, California native ranks fourth on the team among players with at least 10 at-bats with a .389 on-base percentage, drawing 15 walks and tying for the team lead with 11 HBPs. When leading off the inning and turning the lineup over to the top of the order, Ole Miss' No. 9 hitter is reaching base at a .520 clip.

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 18-3 in the comfy confines of their home stadium, having won every single non-conference matchup and going 6-3 in conference play in Oxford. Junior Autumn Gillespie has especially dialed in her game at the Ole Miss Softball Complex, batting .345 with 9 of her 11 extra-base hits and 14 of her 18 RBIs coming in Oxford.

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 12 runners attempting to steal. With just 20 total steals attempted against her in 2019, Gillespie has gunned down 60 percent of runners risky enough to attempt to swipe a base.

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 0.40. Kylan Becker's seven triples is fourth-most in Division I, while Autumn Gillespie's four triple-baggers ranks tied for fourth in the SEC.

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 12th in the nation with a 3.86 strikeout-to-walk ratio, allowing one or fewer bases on balls in 27 games in 2019. Ole Miss ranks tied for 14th in the nation with 71 total walks, second fewest in the conference. Additionally, Ole Miss boasts two of the nation's top-100 pitchers in walks allowed per seven innings pitched in Molly Jacobsen (76th, 1.54), Ava Tillmann (92nd, 1.61) and Brittany Finney (96th, 1.64).

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 third in the SEC with a 2.06 team ERA, the 24th-lowest in the nation. When the pitching staff is in prime form, the Rebels are nearly unbeatable, posting a 24-1 record when allowing two runs or fewer this season. The Rebels have allowed more than three runs in just 14 games in 2019, registering a 28-2 record in all other contests.

BOMB SQUAD
After posting just 27 home runs all of last season, Ole Miss has already registered 34 big flies in 2019, putting the Rebels on pace to crank out just under 40 round trippers on the year. After Abbey Latham led Ole Miss with seven homers in 2018, Jessica Puk and Brittany Finney already bested that number with Puk leading the team at nine dingers and Finney close behind with eight. Latham is also on pace to top her production from last season with seven round trippers 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 23 of their 45 contests, posting a 21-2 record in those ball games. Ole Miss has failed to put a runner on in the opening frame just eight times in 2019. Additionally, the Rebels have cracked the scoreboard first 32 times this season, going 27-5 in those games. In general, the Rebs have done most of their damage in the early going, scoring 152 of their 254 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 99-of-121 attempts to rank second in the SEC and 11th in the nation in steals per game at 2.20. Kylan Becker leads the team and ranks third in the league with 26 swiped bags, with Kaylee Horton and Abbey Latham tied for fifth with16 steals apiece.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Mikayla Allee

Kylan Becker

Brittany Finney

Autumn Gillespie

Kaylee Horton

Molly Jacobsen

Abbey Latham

Jessica Puk

Amanda Roth

Ava Tillmann

The University of Mississippi Athletics