Softball to Make Home Debut Wednesday Night

			OLE MISS (7-7) vs. NORTH ALABAMA (8-2) Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,000)
Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • SEC Notes (PDF)

Wednesday, March 3
6 p.m.

Watch • Live Stats

PROMOTIONS
• $1 Hot Dogs

LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss is coming off of a 3-2 showing at the Lone Star Invitational in Texas over the weekend. The Rebels reeled off three-straight victories over UConn, No. 23 Baylor and Sam Houston before dropping back-to-back matchups with Texas State and No. 7 Texas.
• Having played 14-straight games on the road to open the season, Ole Miss makes its home debut in Oxford on Wednesday, taking on North Alabama at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
• The Rebels have won 27-straight non-conference games at home, last falling to a non-conference foe in Oxford in 2018. The Rebels have won 33 of the 38 games played at the Ole Miss Softball Complex the last two seasons.
• Ole Miss will be facing off against North Alabama for the second time ever on Wednesday, defeating the lions 6-2 in Oxford a season ago.
• True freshman Blaise Biringer has not only shown tremendous bat control in leading the Rebels with a .477 batting average, the infielder also demonstrated some pop over the weekend, becoming the first Rebel since 2008 to leadoff a game with a home run.
• Junior Tate Whitley isn't far behind Biringer with a .455 average. Whitley's .550 on-base percentage is the highest on the team and the 11th highest in the SEC.
• Jessica Puk is easily pacing the Rebels with 17 RBIs on the season, ranking seventh in the SEC. Savannah Diederich also ranks seventh in the SEC with 39 strikeouts on the season.
• True freshman pitcher Landyn Bruce made a stellar first start over the weekend against UConn, becoming the first Rebel pitcher this season to throw a complete game shutout.
• Ole Miss is batting .374 in wins in 2021 with 68 runs scored in seven games. Meanwhile, in the seven losses the Rebels average drops to .256 with just 18 runs tallied. The team ERA is 1.17 in wins, compared to 5.41 in losses.
• Ole Miss claimed four votes in the NFCA Coaches Poll, the first time receiving votes in 2021.

SCOUTING REPORT
North Alabama is in its eighth season under head coach Ashley Cozart, who guided the program from NCAA Division II to the Division I ranks in 2019. Cozart guided the Lions to the NCAA Division II Tournament in each of her first five seasons at the helm, accounting for the bulk of the program's seven total trips. Since making the move up to Division I, Cozart and the Lions have garnered a 50-29 overall record.

UNA is off to an 8-2 start to the season, winners of seven straight. After sweeping a three-game set with Tennessee State earlier in the week, the Lions won all four of its games this past weekend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, sweeping a pair of doubleheaders over Southern and Louisiana Tech.

Junior Lexi Harper leads the Lions with a .375 batting average, coming in at a .500 on-base percentage. Senior Danielle de Ruiter is the only other UNA player batting over .300, hitting .364 while tying for second most on the team with six runs driven in. Freshman Emma Broadfoot narrowly edges de Ruiter with seven runs driven in in 2021, while senior Meleah Hargett and freshman Sidney Bevis pace UNA with seven runs scored apiece.

Six different players have seen time in the circle for North Alabama, with 2019 ASUN Pitcher of the Year Megan Garst leading the way with 26.1 innings in five starts. Garst has posted a 4-1 record on the year, garnering a 1.06 ERA with 37 strikeouts to just one walk. Freshman Maci Birdyshaw ranks second with 15.2 frames, posting a 3.13 ERA in three starts. Junior Sidney Revels has made the other two starts in the circle for the Lions, throwing 12.0 innings with a 1.75 ERA.

OLE MISS ANNOUNCES ATTENDANCE POLICY
Ole Miss has announced its attendance policy for the 2021 season at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. As is mandatory under the current state executive order, attendance will be limited to no more than 25 percent of capacity. Additionally, Face coverings will be required for entry and at all times, except when actively eating and drinking.

After player guest lists have been received from both the home and visiting teams, the remaining seating availability will be offered to a select group of fans through the Ole Miss Softball Diamond Club and the Rebel Rewards app. Unfortunately, due to social distancing restrictions, seats will not be offered to the general public.

In order to maximize capacity, those in attendance will be restricted to a socially distant "pod" system, with pods limited to groups of two, three or four members of a family or household. This includes the left field area, where camping chairs will be provided. Throughout the venue, no seating will be permitted outside of the preset locations.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Ole Miss Softball Complex has been a place of comfort for the Rebels in non-conference clashes in recent years. With a perfect 8-0 record at home in 2020, Ole Miss has won 33-of-38 games in Oxford in the last two seasons. The Rebs have not lost back-to-back home contests since dropping both ends of a doubleheader to No. 23 Mississippi State on April 15, 2018.

Outside of SEC play, the Rebels have been nothing short of dominant when playing in front of its home crowd. Ole Miss has won 27-straight non-conference regular season home games in a row, having not fallen to a non-SEC team in Oxford during the regular season since a 5-0 defeat to Boston College in 2018. Dating back to 2019, when Ole Miss went 13-0 at home in non-conference play, the Rebels have outscored their opponents 149-25 on home soil in non-league action.

JUST BLAISE
During the first weekend of the season Ole Miss freshman infielder Blaise Biringer had two hits in eight at-bats. Since then, the Arizona native has lived up to her name, putting up red-hot numbers at the plate. Biringer has posted at least one hit in 10 of the following 11 contests, leading the Rebels during that span with a .528 batting average and a .750 slugging percentage. The Cienega HS product has been a major run producer as well, pacing the Rebs in the last 11 games with nine runs scored while also ranking third on the team with seven RBIs. The rookie has also shown some pop, becoming the first Rebel since Lauren Grill in 2008 to hit a leadoff home run after taking one deep in the first at-bat of the game against Sam Houston.

LAYING THE LUMBER
More than any other year in program history, Ole Miss has relied on the long ball to put runs on the board in 2021. Through 14 games, no team in the history of Ole Miss softball has left the park more than the 2021 squad, homering 17 times in all, the exact same number Ole Miss garnered in 25 games in 2020. The Rebels have registered at least one home run in 10 of their 14 games so far this season, posting a 7-3 record in those 10 games while going winless when failing to clobber a big fly. While 32.6 percent of Ole Miss' runs in 2021 have come via home runs, lately the Rebs have been doing their damage without runners on base as each of the last eight dingers have been solo shots.

BRUCE ALMIGHTY
After making a pair of relief appearances early in the season, freshman right-handed pitcher Landyn Bruce made her starting debut last weekend, taking on UConn in Waco, Texas. All the California native did was toss the first complete game shutout for the Rebels since Anna Borgen's in 2020, scattering seven hits over seven complete frames with five strikeouts in a 7-0 Ole Miss win. The freshman currently ranks third on the Rebel staff with 11.0 innings of work, pacing Ole Miss with a 1.27 ERA in four appearances.

RUNNING IT UP
While Ole Miss has won exactly half of its games in 2021, when the Rebels have won this season they've done so in style. In each of its seven victories, Ole Miss has won by at least six runs, including four run-rule wins. The Rebels have scored at least seven runs in each of their victories, tallying double-digit runs five times.

GRAND OPENING
True freshman Aynslie Furbush made about as loud of a statement to open her Rebel career as possible, plowing a grand slam in just her second career at-bat in the 10-1 victory over FAU during the second week of the season. The following day, the Winter Springs, Florida, native did it again, clearing a base path that was full of Rebels. Furbush became the first Ole Miss player ever to register a grand slam as her first collegiate hit. Additionally, it took the rookie just three at-bats to come the fifth player in program history with multiple grand slams. Furbush finished the weekend with nine RBIs, leading the team.

BALL MAGNET
Over the past two seasons, nobody on the Rebel roster has been more consistently on base than junior Mikayla Allee, having posted a .457 on-base percentage in her collegiate career. One of the key contributing factors to this is the Corona, California, native's uncanny ability to draw HBPs. Despite having played just 97 total games in her career, Allee has been hit by 26 pitches, already ranking third all-time at Ole Miss. Utilizing another year of experience, senior Autumn Gillespie has also shown a knack for reaching base by being plunked, sitting just behind Allee with 24 HBPs in a Rebel uniform.

VETERAN GROUP
Thanks in part to the extra year of eligibility allowed by the NCAA due to the 2020 season being cut short, Ole Miss returns one of if not the most experienced lineup in the SEC. Ole Miss boasts a roster of 11 seniors, including three players entering their fifth collegiate season and one player entering her sixth. Arkansas is the only team in the conference with more players who are in at least their fourth season at the collegiate level.

The Rebels return five players with more than 100 games of experience (Gabby Alvarez, Autumn Gillespie, Abbey Latham, Jessica Puk, Amanda Roth), including three with greater than 100 starts (Gillespie, Latham, Roth). Entering her sixth season, Gillespie leads the way, cracking the starting lineup in 180 of her 185 appearances at the collegiate level. From top to bottom the Rebels boast experience, with 10 of the 23 players who play a position in the field having made at least 75 appearances in their career.

With every every-day player returning to the field for the Rebels in 2021, Ole Miss returns nearly all of its production in every offensive category, including at-bats (98.1%), runs (94.6%), hits (99.4%), RBIs (97.9%), doubles (100%), triples (100%), home runs (100%), walks (98.9% and stolen bases (100%).

RUN AT YOUR OWN RISK
Since joining Ole Miss ahead of the 2018 season, senior catcher Autumn Gillespie has struck fear in the eyes of opposing base stealers. Over the past three seasons Gillespie's 29 runners caught stealing is tied for the most in the SEC with Mississippi State's Mia Davidson and Missouri's Hatti Moore. However, Gillespie has been far more efficient with controlling the run game than the two aforementioned players, with the California native throwing out 38.7 percent of would be base stealers, compared to 31.5 percent for Moore and 28.7 percent for Davidson. In fact, since Gillespie entered the league in 2018, no catcher with at least 25 runners caught stealing has gunned down a higher percentage of runners. Even when runners don't take the risk of attempting to swipe a base, Gillespie has flashed her arm with a pair of pickoffs in 2021.

ROOKIES IN THE RANKINGS
In addition to having nearly the entire 2020 roster returning, Ole Miss bolstered its lineup with a talented group of six true freshmen. Included in that crew are a pair of rookies who were ranked in FloSoftball's Hot 100 Rankings in infielder Blaise Biringer and Aynslie Furbush, who plays both in the field and in the circle.

A middle infielder from Nogales, Arizona, Biringer was tabbed as the No. 59 incoming freshman in the nation by FloSoftball. Biringer helped lead Cienega High School to a pair of state championships, earning all-state laurels three times, including back-to-back first team nods in 2018 and 2019.

In addition to being ranked No. 85 in FloSoftball's class of 2020 Hot 100, Furbush was also slotted as the No. 16 rookie in the nation in Softball America's Top-25 Freshmen list. A 2018-19 Florida State Champion with Winter Springs High School, Furbush garnered Junior All-American laurels from MaxPreps and was also tabbed as the FACA 8A Player of the Year in 2019.

WHO YOU CALLING HOKIE?
Among the new faces in the Ole Miss lineup is utility player Maddi Banks, a transfer from Virginia Tech. The Iowa native is expected to make an immediate impact, earning D1Softball's SEC Preseason Newcomer of the Year laurel. In her two seasons in Blacksburg, Banks played in 75 total games among various positions. After establishing herself as a regular contributor as a freshman, Banks broke out in 2020. The junior started 22 games for VT, ranking fifth on the team with a .340 average while posting a .581 slugging percentage with three doubles, a triple and a pair of home runs.

A NEW ERA
A new era of Ole Miss softball begins in 2021, with Jamie Trachsel being named the sixth head coach in program history on April 24, 2020. Trachsel brings 18 years of coaching experience to Oxford, including 10 as head coach at successful programs in Minnesota, Iowa State and North Dakota State.

In her 10 seasons as a head coach, Trachsel has guided her teams to the postseason seven times. The Duluth, Minnesota, native has steered her teams to 11 conference regular season and tournament championships, coaching 47 all-league players along the way. Trachsel's crowning achievement came in 2019, earning NFCA Great Lakes Coach of the Year honors after taking the Golden Gophers to the program's first-ever Women's College World Series.

A familiar face in Oxford, former Rebel volunteer assistant coach Katie Rietkovich Browder returns to Ole Miss after spending two years on Trachsel's Minnesota staff. In addition to helping the Golden Gophers in their run to the WCWS, Rietkovich Browder was a key piece in Ole Miss' 2017 SEC Tournament Championship and trip to Super Regionals. Reitkovich Browder was also crucial in the development of the Rebels' corps of slappers, including the likes of Kylan Becker and Elantra Cox.

Former United States Junior Men's National Team member Ryker Chason is in his first season as Ole Miss' pitching coach. Prior to making the move to Oxford, Chason spent four seasons as a student at LSU, assisting Tiger head coach Beth Torina with pitching charts and pitch calls. During his time in Baton Rouge, Chason worked with a plethora of top-end talent, including All-Americans Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper. While at LSU, Chason also served as the pitching coach for the nationally renowned Georgia Impact Premier Club travel ball team in Atlanta.

Rounding out the new faces on the pitching staff is former Elon standout Kara Shutt. Shutt spent the past two seasons as a graduate assistant at fellow SEC foe South Carolina. During her playing career, Shutt put together one of the finest careers in the history of Elon softball, setting the Phoenix' all-time record for career doubles with 63, while ranking second in school history with 253 career hits. Shutt also filled up her mantel with plenty of awards, earning a trio of All-CAA and NFCA All-Region awards 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 Miss Softball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Also, follow head coach Jamie Trachsel on Twitter at @Jamie_Trachsel.

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Players Mentioned

Mikayla Allee

Gabby Alvarez

Maddi Banks

Kylan Becker

Blaise Biringer

Anna Borgen

Landyn Bruce

Elantra Cox

Savannah Diederich

Aynslie Furbush

Autumn Gillespie

Abbey Latham

Jessica Puk

Amanda Roth

Tate Whitley

The University of Mississippi Athletics