Softball to Kickoff SEC Tournament Run Wednesday Night

			No. 17 OLE MISS (36-16, 13-10 SEC) vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE (32-20, 9-15 SEC) College Station, Texas Davis Diamond (2,000)
Ole Miss Notes • Mississippi State Notes • SEC Notes

Thursday, May 9
12:30 p.m.

Watch • Live Stats

LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss is competing in its eighth SEC Tournament, having earned a spot in each year of the Mike Smith era. Prior to Smith's arrival, Ole Miss hadn't qualified for the tournament since 2008.
• The Rebels are 5-6 all-time in the SEC Tournament, winning the title in 2017 and falling in the first round to LSU in 2018.
• Ole Miss finished fifth in the SEC standings with a 13-10 record, the highest finish in the league in program-history. Previously, Ole Miss had never finished higher than eighth in the conference.
• As the No. 5 seed, Ole Miss will play either No. 13 seed and host Texas A&M or No. 12 seed Mississippi State. The Aggies and Bulldogs will play Wednesday morning to decide which team moves on to face the Rebels.
• Ole Miss took 2-of-3 games from Mississippi State in Starkville this season, hanging a 21-0 beat down in the series opener. The Rebels and Aggies did not play during the regular season.
• Mississippi State leads the all-time series with Ole Miss 40-28, while Texas A&M has won 15 of the 17 meetings with the Rebels.
• Ole Miss had four players named to the 2019 All-SEC Teams. Kylan Becker earned a spot on the First Team for the second time in her career, while Molly Jacobsen landed on the second team. Tate Whitley received all-freshman laurels, while Kaylee Horton was named the Rebels' first ever all-defense honoree.
• Ole Miss has racked up 12 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 Coaches Poll and No. 19 in the USA Softball Poll, while coming in at No.9 in the Softball America Poll.
• The Rebels dropped to No. 17 in the latest NCAA RPI report after being swept by Georgia. The Rebels own 14 wins over top-30 RPI teams, including nine in the top-15.

SCOUTING REPORT
Mississippi State is in its eighth season under head coach Vann Stuedeman, who has guided the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament and at least 33 wins in six of her seven previous seasons in Starkville. MSU finished in 12th in the SEC with a 9-15 conference record after winning five of its last six league games, earning a 32-20 overall record during the regular season.

The Bulldogs had three players receive First Team All-SEC honors in catcher Mia Davidson, designated player Fa Leilua and outfielder Kat Moore. Davidson slugged 25 home runs, tying the SEC single season record. The sophomore also leads the team with a .391 average, eight doubles, 61 RBIs and 48 runs scored. A transfer from Arizona State, Leilua posted a .369 average with 22 homers and seven RBIs in her first season in the Magnolia State, driving in 50 runs and scoring 42 more. Meanwhile, Moore batted .336 with a team-high four triples to go along with six doubles and 11 big flies, registering 38 RBIs and 34 runs.

In the circle, Emily Williams paced the team with a 2.42 ERA, a 12-7 record, 139.0 innings and 33 appearances with 20. In 15 innings this season, Williams held the Rebels to three unearned runs on eight total hits. Grace Fagan and Alyssa Loza both pitched 74.2 frames to tie for second on the team. Fagan appeared in 26 games with 11 starts, registering a 7-7 record and a 3.19 ERA, while Loza made 22 appearances with nine starts, posting an 8-2 mark with a 4.31 ERA.

Texas A&M is coached by Jo Evans, who is in her 23rd season at the helm of the Aggie program, taking the team to 19 NCAA Tournaments and three trips to the Women's College World Series. Evans also had head coaching stints at Colorado State and her alma mater, Utah. The Aggies finished in 13th in the SEC standings with a 6-18 record, posting a 28-24 overall record.

Kelbi Fortenberry leads Texas A&M with a .347 batting average, scoring a team-high 31 runs while chipping in seven doubles, one triple and one home run and 26 RBIs. Payton McBride is the only other every-day starter batting over .300 at .341, racking up six doubles and five homers with a team-high 30 RBIs and 13 runs. Baylee Klingler was named to the SEC All-Freshman team after batting .296 with seven doubles and five home runs, driving in 28 runs and scoring 18.

Kendall Potts leads the Aggie pitching staff with 138.2 innings of work in the circle, registering a 3.18 ERA and a 12-11 record in 30 appearances and 20 starts. McBride has also seen a bulk of the load, pitching 102.2 frames in 26 appearances and 15 starts with a 9-6 record and a 3.68 ERA.

RECORD FOUR REBELS NAMED TO ALL-SEC TEAMS
On Tuesday, the Southeastern Conference office announced the 2019 All-SEC Teams, with a program-record four Rebels representing Ole Miss.

Kylan Becker was named First Team All-SEC for the second time in her career, the first since 2017. Becker is the only first team-selection in Ole Miss-history. Molly Jacobsen landed on the second team in her first season at the Division I level, becoming the third Rebel pitcher to be named all-league. Tate Whitley garnered All-Freshman Team laurels, giving Ole Miss an all-freshman team member in four of the last five seasons. Meanwhile, Kaylee Horton became the first player in program-history to be named to the SEC All-Defensive Team.

The four all-league selections are the most the Rebels have ever been bestowed with. Prior to having three honorees in 2017, Ole Miss had never had more than two in a single year.

REBELS FINISH FIFTH, MAKE HISTORY
Concluding the regular season with a 13-10 record in league play, Ole Miss finished in fifth place in the SEC, the Rebels highest-finish in program-history. Previously, the Rebels had never finished higher in the conference standings than eighth in 2017. Ole Miss won six of its eight SEC series, splitting two games with South Carolina and dropping the final series at Georgia. In the SEC Preseason Poll, Ole Miss was picked to finish second to last in the league, garnering the No. 12 spot.

HISTORY ON THE HORIZON
There are a few program-records that could be changing hands in the near future. Sophomore Abbey Latham is just two RBIs away from breaking the single-season record at Ole Miss, held by DeDe Justice with 45 in 2003. Senior Kylan Becker is also on the precipice of breaking a pair of single-season marks, sitting five runs (Elantra Cox, 51, 2017) and six stolen bases (Brittany Broome, 33, 2013) shy.

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 conclude eight of its last 23 contests. The Rebels have been very successful when playing bonus softball, posting a 6-2 record in extra-inning, walking off three times. With 10 run-rule wins on the season, the Rebels played the regulation innings in just 34 of its 52 games during the regular season.

MONEYBALL
While not posting the most eye-popping numbers in the Ole Miss lineup with a meager .195 batting average, freshman Mikayla Allee has found a way to contribute to the Rebel offense in other ways. The Corona, California native ranks third on the team among players with at least 10 at-bats with a .393 on-base percentage, drawing 16 walks and tying for the team lead with 12 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 .483 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 concluded the regular season at 21-4 in the comfy confines of their home stadium, winning every single non-conference matchup and going 8-4 in conference play in Oxford. Junior Autumn Gillespie has especially dialed in her game at the Ole Miss Softball Complex, batting .333 with 9 of her 14 extra-base hits and 14 of her 22 RBIs coming in Oxford.

THANK YOU, AGAIN, REBEL NATION!
For the second time this season, a new regular season record for attendance was set at the Ole Miss Softball Complex during Game Three against Tennessee. This time, however, the 1,734 fans in attendance were enough to set the all-time high mark at the stadium, surpassing the Regional Championship Game against North Carolina in 2017. In all, the three-game mark of 4,388 set the series record as well.

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 20 total steals attempted against her in 2019, Gillespie has gunned down 55 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 0.37. 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 13th in the nation with a 3.73 strikeout-to-walk ratio, allowing one or fewer bases on balls in 32 games in 2019. Ole Miss ranks tied for 15th in the nation with 83 total walks, second fewest in the conference. Additionally, Ole Miss boasts a pair of the nation's top-100 pitchers in walks allowed per seven innings pitched in Ava Tillmann (82nd, 1.55) and Molly Jacobsen (90th, 1.62).

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 fourth in the SEC with a 2.11 team ERA, the 26th-lowest in the nation. When the pitching staff is in prime form, the Rebels are nearly unbeatable, posting a 26-3 record when allowing two runs or fewer this season. The Rebels have allowed more than three runs in just 16 games in 2019, registering a 31-3 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. 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 25 of their 52 contests, posting a 22-3 record in those ball games. Ole Miss has failed to put a runner on in the opening frame just 10 times in 2019. Additionally, the Rebels have cracked the scoreboard first 37 times this season, going 31-6 in those games. In general, the Rebs have done most of their damage in the early going, scoring 163 of their 272 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 110-of-135 attempts to rank second in the SEC and 12th in the nation in steals per game at 2.12. Kylan Becker leads the team and ranks third in the league with 28 swiped bags, while Kaylee Horton sits in 5th with 19 steals and Abbey Latham is tied for 8th with 16.

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.

RebelsCalendar

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mikayla Allee

Kylan Becker

Elantra Cox

Brittany Finney

Autumn Gillespie

Kaylee Horton

Molly Jacobsen

Abbey Latham

Jessica Puk

Ava Tillmann

Tate Whitley

The University of Mississippi Athletics