The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Oklahoma State
Challenging Slate Awaits Softball at Blazer Classic
2/20/2020 | Softball
Rebs to Face Two Top-15 Teams in Birmingham
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BLAZER CLASSIC Feb. 21-23 Birmingham, Ala. Mary Bowers Field |
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| Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • UAB Notes (PDF) SEC Notes (PDF) • Tournament Info |
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| Friday, Feb. 21 Oklahoma State | UAB 11 a.m. | 4 p.m. |
Saturday, Feb. 22 Louisiana | UAB 12:30 p.m. | 5:30 p.m. |
Sunday, Feb. 23 Louisiana 11 a.m. |
| Game One: Live Stats Game Two: Watch • Live Stats |
Game One: Live Stats Game Two: Watch • Live Stats |
Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss competes in its final road tournament of the season, heading to the UAB hosted Blazer Classic in Birmingham, Alabama for five games.
• Both games against the host Blazers will be available for streaming through CUSA.tv, while the Rebels' other three games will have live stats available.
• The tournament will feature some stiff competition, with a pair of top-15 opponents in No. 11 Louisiana and No. 14 Oklahoma State. Host UAB is no slouch, either, entering the tournament with an 8-3 record.
• The Rebels squared off against all three teams in 2019 and registered a 5-1 combined record against this weekend's opponents, sweeping a pair of games over Oklahoma State, defeating UAB in an midweek clash and winning two of three games over Louisiana in the NCAA Oxford Regional.
• Friday's game against Oklahoma State will be the seventh matchup against Power Five Conference opponents for Ole Miss through the first 11 games of the season.
• The Rebs are coming off of an 11-0, five inning thrashing of Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday in the home opener at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
• Anna Borgen, Ava Tillmann and Savannah Diederich combined to allow just one hit in the five inning shutout win.
• Amanda Roth went 2-for-3 with four RBIs in the game, while Nyomi Jones also put forward a 2-for-3 effort for the first multi-hit game of the freshman's young career.
• Ole Miss returns 17 players from last season's roster, including Second Team All-SEC pitcher Molly Jacobsen, SEC All-Freshman Team outfielder Tate Whitley and single season RBI record holder Abbey Latham.
• The Rebels also add a group of seven talented newcomers, including a trio of FloSofball Hot 100 recruits in Paige Smith, Nyomi Jones and Mac Barbara.
SCOUTING REPORT
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State is in its fifth season with alum Kenny Gajewski at the helm. Gajewski has turned the Cowgirls into a group to be reckoned with, earning an NCAA bid each of the past four seasons, including a trip to the Women's College World Series a season ago. Ranked 14th in the nation, Oklahoma State is 6-3 on the early season, earning wins over No. 14 Minnesota and No. 9 Alabama last weekend at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational.
With two of its top hitters from 2019 gone in Samantha Show and Madi Sue Montgomery, Oklahoma State has turned to Naomi Kiley and Sydney Pennington to get the offense going. Kiley paces OSU with a .429 batting average and 10 runs driven in, knocking a pair of doubles and three home runs to go with eight runs scored. Pennington ranked second with a .379 average, leading the Cowgirls with nine runs scored while adding three doubles and long balls apiece. Last season's team leader in batting average Cheyenne Factor is also back, batting .345 with six RBIs and three runs.
Virginia Tech transfer Carrie Eberle has done a bulk of the work in the circle, pitching 28.0 innings over four starts and six appearances, leading the team with a 0.75 ERA and 24 strikeouts with a 3-1 record. Logan Simunek has made four appearances and three starts, recording a 2.06 ERA and a 2-2 record in her 17.0 innings for work. Kelly Maxwell has also been used often, pitching 14.1 innings in five appearances with a 0.98 ERA on two earned runs.
UAB
UAB is in its second season year under head coach Jimmy Kolaitis, who made the move to Birmingham after spending the previous five seasons on the staff at national powerhouse Oregon, helping lead the Ducks to four Women's College World Series. The Blazers posted a 19-31 record in Kolaitis' first season at the helm. So far in 2020, UAB is 8-3 with a win over ACC foe Georgia Tech.
The Blazers are led offensively by former Rebel Dylinn Stancil, who transferred to UAB following her sophomore season in 2018. Stancil is batting .514 on the season with two doubles and a triple, driving in eight runs and scoring six more. Sierra Frazier isn't far behind with a .457 average, leading the team with six doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs. Analyse Petree has also been productive, posting a .333 batting average with four doubles and two long balls, trailing only Frazier with 10 runs driven in.
In the circle, Amy Woodham leads the way with 30.0 innings of work on six appearances and three starts, posting a 3-1 record with a 0.70 ERA and 24 strikeouts to four walks. Sarah Cespedes has also seen a good deal of work with 21.1 frames on seven appearances, six out of the bullpen. Cespedes owns a 1.64 ERA and a 1-1 record. Emily Kachel leads the team with four starts yet has the lowest work load at 12.2 innings, sitting at 2-1 with a 4.42 ERA.
Louisiana
Louisiana is led by long time SEC assistant coach Gerry Glasco, who is in his third season at the helm of the
Ragin' Cajuns program. During his tenure, Louisiana has collected a 100-24 overall record, including 46-6 in Sun
Belt Conference action. Glasco has led the Ragin' Cajuns to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in his first two seasons in Lafayette. UL is 7-2 through the first two weeks of the season, splitting its home-and-home with No. 7 LSU over the weekend.
After starting the first four games on the bench, Kendall Talley has been red hot since entering the starting lineup. The sophomore is batting .533 to lead the team with five runs driven in and four more scored. Kaitlyn Alderink has scored a team best nine runs while registering a .391 average, while Julie Rawls paces the Ragin' Cajuns with 11 RBIs, posting a .368 batting average with a pair of homers and a double. Overall, eight of the nine regular starters for UL are batting at least .300.
The two-headed monster of Summer Ellyson and Megan Kleist has been nearly unhittable for opposing batters. As a staff, Louisiana is allowing just a .152 average with a combined 1.02 ERA. Ellyson has seen just slightly more work with 27.2 innings in five starts, going 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 42 strikeouts to three walks. The drop off to Kleist is non-existent, with the Oregon transfer tossing 27.0 frames with a 0.78 ERA on three earned runs, striking out 34 batters to seven walks issued. Despite the miniscule run production for opposing batters, Kleist is just 3-2 on the year.
FAMILIAR COMPETITION
Ole Miss squared off against all three of its opponents this weekend in 2019, earning a 5-1 combined record over Louisiana, Oklahoma State and UAB. The wins over the Ragin' Cajuns were maybe the most famous of the season, with the Rebels taking back-to-back Sunday affairs to hand Louisiana a third of its six total losses on the season, walking off for an NCAA Regional Title and a trip to Super Regionals. The Rebels also earned a pair of commanding wins in Oxford over Oklahoma State, a squad that would eventually advance to the Women's College World Series. After besting the Cowgirls 8-4 the previous day, Ole Miss blasted Oklahoma State 10-1 in five innings, OSU's lone run rule loss of the year. UAB gave Ole Miss all it could handle in a midweek tilt but the Rebels nonetheless came out victorious with a walk-off 3-2 win in extras.
BORGEN'S BREAKTHROUGH
Through 10 games, lefty Anna Borgen has emerged as one of the more consistent arms in the Ole Miss pitching rotation. Borgen has thrown 8.0 scoreless innings in three appearances, allowing just three total hits with 10 strikeouts among the 27 batters she's faced. The junior also picked up the win in a complete game effort in the exhibition against the All-American packed Mexican Olympic Team, allowing one run over seven innings.
REBS ROUTE MVSU
Playing in front of its home crowd for the first time in 2020, Ole Miss made quick work of the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devilettes, registering its first run rule victory of the season with an 11-0 bashing in five innings. Amanda Roth was the primary catalyst offensively, finishing the game 2-for-3 with four RBIs, including a bases-clearing triple in the fourth. Anna Borgen, Ava Tillmann and Savannah Diederich teamed up to surrender just one hit to MVSU, with Borgen picking up the win after three perfect innings with four strikeouts.
JACOBSEN'S GEM
Behind a stellar eight-inning shutout effort from senior pitcher Molly Jacobsen, Ole Miss picked up its first victory of the season against Colorado State at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, upending the Rams 2-0 south of the border. The lefty twirler was nothing short of electric in the circle, scattering a pair of hits and four walks to hold the Rams at bay, coming up just one short of her career high in strikeouts with 10. The Rebels needed every bit of the effort, too, failing to break through against CSU starter Jessica Jarecki until the eighth inning, taking advantage of the international tie-breaker rule to scratch across a pair of runs.
¡VIVA REBELS!
Despite the contest not officially counting, Ole Miss picked up a big win over some steep competition during its stay in Mexico, beating the Mexican Olympic Team 4-1 in an exhibition at Nancy Almaraz Stadium. The Mexican team, ranked No. 4 in the world, put its best foot forward against the Rebels. Among the players who saw action in the game, Team Mexico boasted nine NFCA All-American and 22 all-conference honors. Particularly impressive are the resumes of the two pitchers Ole Miss faced off against in the circle, Taylor McQuillin and Kelly Barnhill. McQuillin was a three-time All-Pac 12 and 2019 First Team All-American performer for Arizona, while Barnhill racked up three All-America and four All-SEC nods during her time at Florida, including locking down the national player of the year honor in 2017.
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.
