The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Samford
Six Games on the Docket as Softball Hosts Ole Miss Classic
3/4/2021 | Softball
Rebels Welcome Indiana State, North Dakota State and Samford to Oxford
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OLE MISS CLASSIC March 5-7 Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex (1,000) |
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| Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • Indiana State Notes (PDF) • North Dakota State Notes (PDF) • Samford Notes SEC Notes (PDF) • Tournament Central |
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| Friday, March 5 Samford 3:30 p.m. | 6 p.m. |
Saturday, March 6 North Dakota State 3:30 p.m. | 6 p.m. |
Sunday, March 7 Indiana State Noon | 2:30 p.m. |
| Game One: Watch • Live Stats Game Two: Watch • Live Stats |
Game One: Watch • Live Stats Game Two: Watch • Live Stats |
Game One: Watch • Live Stats Game Two: Watch • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss is coming off of a 3-0 victory over North Alabama in its home opener on Wednesday. It is the eight-straight season that Ole Miss has won its home opener.
• Anna Borgen was electric in the circle in the victory over the Lions, surrendering just a pair of hits in the fourth complete game shutout of the lefty's career and the first this season. Borgen matched her career high in strikeouts in the game, fanning six.
• It was the third complete game shutout of the season for Ole Miss, all of which have come over the last five games.
• A pair of freshman led the way on offense for Ole Miss, with Blaise Biringer scoring the winning run after roping a one-out triple and Aynslie Furbush coming up clutch with the game-winning two-run single. Biringer leads the SEC and ranks second in the nation with three triples on the year.
• The Rebels will host the sixth-annual Ole Miss Classic this weekend. Ole Miss is 20-2 in the classic all-time, winning each of the last nine contests.
• The Rebels have won 28-straight non-conference games at home, last falling to a non-conference foe in Oxford in 2018. The Rebels have won 34 of the 39 games played at the Ole Miss Softball Complex dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
• A pair of Rebels have double-digit reached base streaks going, with Tate Whitley leading the team at 11 games and Mikayla Allee close behind with 10. Whitley is also riding a seven-game hit streak to lead the Rebs.
• Jessica Puk is easily pacing the Rebels with 17 RBIs on the season, ranking eighth in the SEC. Savannah Diederich also ranks seventh in the SEC with 39 strikeouts on the season.
• Ole Miss claimed four votes in the NFCA Coaches Poll, the first time receiving votes in 2021.
SCOUTING REPORT
Indiana State
Mike Perniciaro is in this fourth season at Indiana State, having led the Sycamores to a 69-92 record during his time as head coach. Perniciaro also had a brief stint in Oxford, serving as the associate head coach of the Rebels for three seasons from 2012-14.
The Sycamores recorded their only victory of the season at Chattanooga in the Chattanooga Challenge on Feb. 19, winning 7-5. Despite coming into the weekend with a 1-6 record, Indiana State has put up at least six runs in five of its seven games and has scored 42 times.
Bella Peterson and true freshman Isabella Henning have made their presence known to opposing pitchers. Peterson is batting .440 with 11 hits and eight runs batted in, while Henning has seven hits this season, including three home runs.
North Dakota State
Jamie Trachsel's former co-head coach, Darren Mueller, brings the Bison to town for the Ole Miss Classic. Mueller is in his 20th season as the head of the program. He has guided his team to the NCAA Tournament 13 times in his career and led North Dakota State to a DII National Title in 2000.
NDSU is coming off its first weekend of action this season as the Bison' opening tournament was canceled due to travel complications. The Bison played last weekend at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, dropping four-of-five games and being outscored 30-8. Their lone win came against Texas Tech, 5-4, in an extra-inning thriller.
Through five games, Madyson Camacho has had the hot bat. The senior outfielder is hitting .438 with a team-leading seven hits. On the rubber, Lainey Lyle has seen the most action. She's posted a 4.50 ERA through 14.0 innings pitched.
Samford
The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a 6-5 record under the helm of head coach Mandy Burford-Johnson, who is in her 10th season at Samford. Burford-Johnson is the winningest coach in Samford softball history with a 219-259 career record. She has also led the Bulldogs to their only NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016.
Samford dropped both games in a doubleheader on Feb. 24, falling 3-2 and 7-1 to Troy, an opponent the Rebels faced opening weekend. Heading into the Ole Miss Classic, Samford is coming off a 4-0 weekend hosting a tournament where they won a pair of games each against Northern Iowa and ULM. The Bulldogs outscored their opponents 17-5 in the Samford Tournament, including a 9-2 rout of Northern Iowa.
The Bulldog bats are led by senior Whitney Hinton. She paces the team in batting average (.359), hits (14), home runs (3), RBIs (8) and slugging percentage (.667). In the circle, the Bulldogs are led by a pair of aces in Emily Barnett and Abby Swaney. Barnett was recently named SoCon Pitcher of the week after a 3-1 week where she played in five of the team's six games. The junior owns a 1.59 ERA through 22.0 innings of work this season. Swaney leads the team with 35.0 innings pitched and 28 strikeouts.
OLE MISS ANNOUNCES UPDATED ATTENDANCE POLICY
In accordance with the State of Mississippi's latest executive orders, Ole Miss Athletics has announced updated attendance plans for softball this spring. These policies will take effect beginning with games this weekend.
After player guest lists have been received from both the home and visiting teams, priority admission will be offered to a select group of supporters through the Ole Miss Softball Diamond Club. Once those RSVPs are secured, remaining spots, which are expected to increase throughout the spring, will be offered to the general public on a first come, first served basis at the gates.
Current members of the Diamond Club (formerly the Dugout Club) that meet criteria will receive an email with details on attending games. Fans interested in the Diamond Club may join here.
Fans are required to wear a face covering upon entry into the facility, while in transit around the stadiums and may only remove them when at their seat. All other previously announced COVID-19 safety measures remain in place.
REUNION WEEKEND
There will be plenty of familiar faces around Oxford this weekend as Rebel head coach Jamie Trachsel faces off against a program close to her heart on Saturday in North Dakota State. Trachsel coached at NDSU for 16 seasons, including the final six as co-head coach with current Bison skipper Darren Mueller. Trachsel has never lost to the Bison, winning all three matchups against NDSU with Minnesota in 2018.
This weekend will also see the return of legendary Ole Miss pitcher and current Samford pitching coach Kaitlin Lee. Lee's name is littered throughout the Rebel record books after starring in the circle for two seasons at Ole Miss in 2017 and 2018. Lee burst onto the national scene during Ole Miss' historic postseason run in 2017, throwing every pitch along the way as Ole Miss captured its first-ever SEC Tournament Championship and NCAA Regional Title.
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. After going a perfect 8-0 at home in 2020 and kicking off the 2021 home slate with a win on Wednesday, Ole Miss has won 34-of-39 games in Oxford dating back to the start of the 2019 season. 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 28-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.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
Ole Miss has resorted to a "by any means necessary" policy when it comes to getting on base, ranking second in the SEC with 21 HBPs on the year, one behind South Carolina. The Rebels have been plunked at least once in all but three games in 2021, tallying multiple HBPs eight times. Paige Smith and Mikayla Allee have been particularly adept, pacing the team with seven and six HBPs, respectively. Allee has been wearing pitches her entire Rebel career, ranking third in school history with 27 HBPs despite only playing in 98 total games.
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 11 of the following 12 contests, leading the Rebels during that span with a .538 batting average and a .795 slugging percentage. The Cienega HS product has been a major run producer as well, pacing the Rebs in the last 11 games with 10 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.
SHUT DOWN STUFF
The Rebel pitching staff has been giving opponents fits in recent games, delivering all three of this season's complete game shutout efforts over the last five contests, with three different hurlers accomplishing the feat. True freshman Landy Bruce got the part started, tossing seven scoreless frames in her first career start against UConn. Ava Tillmann followed up with a one-hit showing against Sam Houston in a run-rule win, with Anna Borgen flummoxing North Alabama over seven strong on Wednesday night. Overall, the Rebels have allowed just seven runs total over the last five games.
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 15 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 15 games so far this season, posting a 7-3 record in those 10 games while garnering a 1-4 record when failing to clobber a big fly.
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 seven of its eight victories, Ole Miss has won by at least six runs, including four run-rule wins. In general the offense has been feast or famine, with the Rebs scoring double digit runs in 5-of-8 wins but fewer than three runs in 5-of-7 losses.
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.
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 28.4 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 MissSoftball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball.
