The University of Mississippi Athletics
Softball Senior Weekend on Tap for Tennessee Series
4/25/2019 | Softball
Final Home Series of Regular Season Approaching as Rebs Host Vols
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No. 17 OLE MISS (34-12, 11-6 SEC) vs. No. 9 TENNESSEE (36-10, 11-7 SEC) Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,000) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • Tennessee Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Friday, April 26 6 p.m.  |
Saturday, April 27 4 p.m. |
Sunday, April 28 2 p.m.  |
| Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats |
PROMOTIONS
Friday
• First 200 fans will receive a stars & stripes styled Ole Miss softball
• Softball Bingo Friday presented by Chick-Fil-A
Saturday
• Senior Day - Ole Miss will honor its three seniors during pregame festivities
• Free Crawfish available in the outfield seating section
Sunday
• Postgame autographs and Kids Run the Bases presented by Belles and Beaus
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss plays in its final home series of the regular season, welcoming the ninth-ranked Volunteers of Tennessee to the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
• Sunday's game will be available on your television set as the Rebels and Vols square off on ESPNU. Pam Ward and Jenny Dalton-Hill will have the call from Oxford.
• Tennessee has dominated the all-time series, owning a 47-8 record all-time against Ole Miss. The Rebels have fallen to UT in 19 of the last 20 matchups, including each of the last four. When the Rebs have had success against the Vols, it has come in Oxford, with seven of the eight wins coming at home.
• The Rebels were victorious in their last time out, defeating Southern Miss 3-0 behind a shutout performance from the pitching duo of Molly Jacobsen and Ava Tillmann.
• The Rebels have been on a roll through the second half of the 2018 season, winning 26 of their last 32 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 24 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
Tennessee is in its 18th season under the direction of head coaching duo and husband and wife Ralph and Karen Weekly, who together have guided the Volunteers to five top-three national finishes, seven trips to the Women's College World Series and 15-straight NCAA Tournament Bids. The Weeklys are members of the exclusive 1,000-win club, including more than 850 wins since their arrival in Knoxville. Prior to taking over at UT, Ralph and Karen served as Co-Head Coaches for five seasons at Chattanooga, guiding the Lady Mocs to the Southern Conference regular season title each season.
The ninth-ranked Vols sit at 36-10 for the season, sitting directly behind Ole Miss in fourth place in the SEC with an 11-7 league record. Tennessee has been on a roll as of late, winning eight of its past 10 contests, with the only losses coming against a ranked Georgia side. UT has played just 13 true road games in 2019, posting a 9-4 record.
The Vols are led offensively by freshman Kaitlin Parsons and senior Aubrey Leach, with Parsons pacing UT with a .429 batting average and Leach not far behind at .417. Leach is also the team leader in runs scored at 55, nearly 30 more than the next-closest player, while driving in 22 of her own. Junior Chelsea Seggern leads the team with 13 doubles, adding a triple and three home runs for a .375 average and 34 RBIs. Senior Haley Bearden hits for both average and power, leading the Vols with 14 big flies and 40 RBIs on the year, sitting with a .336 average.
A workhorse in the circle, Vol Ace Ashley Rogers has established herself as one of the SEC's top pitchers during her freshman campaign. Rogers has appeared in 30 games with 23 starts, posting an 18-3 record with a 1.80 ERA in 136.1 innings, ranking second in the league with six shutouts. Junior Caylan Arnold is UT's other primary starter with 19 appearances and 16 starts, garnering an 8-5 record with a 2.36 ERA in 62.1 innings. Despite ranking second on the team with 86.2 frames of work, senior Matty Moss has been primarily used out of the bullpen. Moss has appeared in 27 games with just seven starts, earning a 10-2 record with a 2.75 ERA, registering three saves on the year.
THANK YOU, SENIORS!
As the last home series of the regular season for Ole Miss, this weekend's festivities will serve as Senior Day weekend at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. The Rebels will honor the three members of their senior class, Kylan Becker, Brittany Finney and Izzy Werdann. Becker is the only member of the group to spend all four seasons in Oxford, appearing in 223 games with 214 starts. Finney transferred to Ole Miss after playing her freshman campaign at Oklahoma, while Werdann, a former JUCO standout at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has spent her final two seasons at Ole Miss.
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 seven decisions to improve to 8-2 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 15-of-17 appearances, including 1 run or less 11 times.
ROLLING THROUGH CONFERENCE PLAY
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.
EXTRA! EXTRA!
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 17 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 63.0 percent of their games.
MONEYBALL
While not posting the most eye-popping numbers in the Ole Miss lineup with a meager .174 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 .392 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 .500 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 19-3 in the comfy confines of their home stadium, winning 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 .350 with 9 of her 14 extra-base hits and 14 of her 22 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 fourth in the nation in triples per game at 0.41. 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 14th in the nation with a 3.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio, allowing one or fewer bases on balls in 28 games in 2019. Ole Miss ranks tied for 11th in the nation with 72 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 Ava Tillmann (69th, 1.51), Molly Jacobsen (82nd, 1.56) and Brittany Finney (100th, 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 2.02 team ERA, the 23rd-lowest in the nation. When the pitching staff is in prime form, the Rebels are nearly unbeatable, posting a 25-1 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 29-2 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 39 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 nine times in 2019. Additionally, the Rebels have cracked the scoreboard first 33 times this season, going 28-5 in those games. In general, the Rebs have done most of their damage in the early going, scoring 155 of their 257 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 101-of-123 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, while Kaylee Horton sits in 6th with 17 steals and Abbey Latham is one spot behind in 7th with 16 stolen bases.
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.
