The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Tennessee
Softball Set For Senior Weekend With No. 12 Tennessee In Town
4/29/2022 | Softball
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OLE MISS (34-14, 8-10 SEC) vs. #12 TENNESSEE (34-13, 11-6 SEC) Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex |
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| Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • Tennessee Notes (PDF) • SEC Notes (PDF) | ||||||||
| Saturday, April 30 4 p.m.  |
Sunday, May 1 5 p.m.  |
Monday, May 2 6 p.m. |
| Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats | Watch • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
• Playing its final series in Oxford this season, Ole Miss welcomes Tennessee to town. The Lady Vols lead the all-time series 48-10.
• Ole Miss will honor seven seniors on Friday in Mikayla Allee, Anna Borgen, Savannah Diederich, Sydney Gutierrez, Abbey Latham, Bre Roper and Tate Whitley.
• The Rebels secured their second SEC sweep of the season on the road in South Carolina. It marked their first sweep of a conference opponent on the road since taking all three games from Arkansas in 2015.
• Outfielder Tate Whitley ranks fifth in the nation with 66 hits and is hitting .415 on the season.
• Abbey Latham has been on a tear at the plate, recording a home run in four of her last six games, including a go-ahead grand slam against the Gamecocks.
• As of late, Ole Miss has utilized the long ball frequently. The Rebels have crushed 12 home runs in their last six games.
• With its midweek victory over Louisiana Tech last week, Ole Miss clinched its seventh consecutive 30-win season.
• The Rebels have a pair of top-10 wins on the season. They shut out No. 9 Arkansas in Oxford and took down No. 8 Kentucky in Lexington. They are 5-8 against ranked teams.
• Savannah Diederich, Brooke Vestal and Landyn Bruce combined to throw the program's first no-hitter since March 9, 2014, against Tennessee State earlier this month.
• Senior Bre Roper notched her 200th career hit in the Rebels' victory over Louisiana Tech, going 3-for-3. It was her 15th multi-hit game this season.
SCOUTING REPORT
A 25-year collegiate softball head coaching veteran boasting 1,206 career wins, Karen Weekly is in her 21st season at the helm of the Tennessee softball program. She has guided the Lady Vols to a staggering 983 victories and five top-three national finishes and seven appearances in the Women's College World Series in her time with the UT softball program. Entering the weekend series Tennessee checks in at No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 and No. 13 in all other major polls. Winners of four straight, the Lady Vols boast a 34-14 record on the season, including an 11-6 mark in conference play. As a team, UT is batting .286 and has scored 302 runs for an average of 6.43 per game. At the plate, Kiki Milloy paces Tennessee with a .373 average and 57 hits, 11 of which have been doubles. She is also one of three Lady Vols with double-digit home runs, in a lineup that ranks 10th in the nation with 76 on the season. In the circle, Erin Edmoundson leads the Lady Vols with a team-high 18 wins in 32 appearances. Through 142.1 innings of work, the lefty has registered a 2.31 earned run average. Ashley Rogers has also had a lot of success for Tennessee. The senior tossed a 5 inning perfect game against East Carolina last weekend.
THE CATELYN RILEY EFFECT
Ever since blasting a grand slam against Tennessee State, Catelyn Riley has become a mainstay in the middle of the Ole Miss lineup. Logging only 38 official at-bats on the season, the freshman has tallied a hit in nearly half of them, boasting a .447 average. Eight of her 17 hits have gone for extra bases, including two home runs. But Riley's impact goes well beyond the plate. She has also been a difference-maker for the Rebels in the circle, leading the team in innings pitched with 72.1 and boasting a 2.90 earned run average. Her success has been remarkable, as her team-high 10 wins are tied for the third-most by an Ole Miss freshman pitcher with Holly Burris (2000).
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Ole Miss Softball Complex has been an absolute fortress for the Rebels over the last few years. After going 24-3 at home in 2021, including a perfect 15-0 against non-conference opponents, Ole Miss is off to a 17-5 start in Oxford. The Rebels have now won 74-of-87 games in Oxford, dating back to the start of the 2019 season. Outside of SEC play, the Rebels have been nothing short of dominant when playing in front of its home crowd. Ole Miss has won 55-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.
CAROLINA SWEEP
Back on the road in conference play, Ole Miss softball traveled to Columbia and took all three games of the series against the Gamecocks. Abbey Latham highlighted Friday's 8-3 victory with a second inning grand slam, and the middle infield duo of Mikayla Allee and Keila Kamoku shined in a 2-1 win. The Rebels capped off the series with a shutout Sunday to notch their first sweep against a conference opponent on the road since 2015 (at Arkansas).
LATHAM'S LEGACY
One of the Rebels' top offensive weapons in Abbey Latham is leaving her mark on the Ole Miss Softball record book. Taking advantage of her fifth season of eligibility, she has entered the top-10 in 10 different statistical categories. Latham ranks inside the top-five in program history in games played (fifth, 226), at-bats (fifth, 628) doubles (fourth, 38), home runs (third, 37), total bases (third, 337) and slugging percentage (third, .536). In addition to leading Ole Miss with 161 career, RBIs, she ranks seventh in school history with 188 hits.
HOTTY TODDY TATE
Senior Tate Whitley has been a sparkplug for the Ole Miss offense this season. Hitting in the leadoff spot, Whitley has reached base in all but seven games for the Rebels this season and has collected multiple hits in 23 contests, including nine three-hit games. Through 48 games, the Angleton, Texas, native has tallied 66 hits, 22 more than her total from last season (44). Whitley is tied for fifth in the NCAA in hits this season and ranks 39th nationally with a .415 batting average. Further, she has crossed the plate 43 times for the Rebels in 2022, the third most in a single season in program history.
RISING TO THE OCCASION
Last season, Sydney Gutierrez ranked 11th in the SEC with a .366 batting average in league play, the fourth-highest average in SEC play for a Rebel in the last decade. Eighteen games into the 2022 conference slate, the fifth year senior is picking up where she left off. Gutierrez leads the team with a .314 average at the plate and has been red-hot in the middle of the Ole Miss lineup against conference foes. The Pearland, Texas, product has 16 hits in conference play, including four doubles and her first home run of the season.
BLUEGRASS UPSET
Taking on top-10 opponents in back-to-back weeks, the Rebels were able to shock the softball world, knocking off No. 8 Kentucky 7-6 in Lexington to open the series. The victory came just one week after Ole Miss shut out No. 9 Arkansas at home. Against the Wildcats, Sydney Gutierrez had a huge day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three runs batted in. In the circle, Catelyn Riley entered the game in the fourth inning and took over, retiring 11 of the final 14 batters she faced to clinch the victory. It marked Ole Miss' first top-10 win on the road since defeating No. 5 Auburn 10-4 in 2017.
SPINNY REBELS
The Spinny Rebels were the stars of Ole Miss' midweek doubleheader as Savannah Diederich, Brooke Vestal and Landyn Bruce were unhittable in the circle. The trio combined to throw Ole Miss' first no-hitter since March 19, 2014, as the Rebels topped Tennessee State 10-0 in five innings. Diederich faced seven batters in the first two frames, including striking out the side in the first inning, and Vestal took over in the second, retiring all six batters she faced. Needing just three outs to cap off the victory and the no-hitter in the fifth inning, Bruce retired the side with a flyout and two groundouts. Ole Miss followed up the no-no with another 17-0 one-hit shutout. The Rebels have tallied 13 shutouts on the season (16th nationally and second in the SEC).
TOP-10 SHUTOUT
The Rebels were nothing short of dominant in the circle in the series opener against Arkansas this past weekend, keeping one of the nation's most potent offenses off the scoreboard. Reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week, Anna Borgen, got the start, going 5.0 innings without allowing a run, and freshman Catelyn Riley slammed the door shut on the No. 9 ranked team in the country, marking only the second time the Razorbacks have been held scoreless all season.
RBI QUEEN
Abbey Latham recorded her 144th career RBI in the second inning, passing Lauren Grill for the top spot on the all-time leaderboard as the Rebels took down UT Martin 8-3 in a midweek clash. The fifth-year senior entered the evening needing three RBIs to break the program record. She tallied on in the first inning, singling in Whitley for the first run of the game. Then in the second inning, with the bases loaded, Latham took the ball the other way for a clutch two-RBI single to become Ole Miss' all-time leader with 144 runs batted in. Latham's 161 RBIs rank 29th nationally among active career leaders.
BORGEN NAMED SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Following a dominant week in the circle, senior left-hand pitcher Anna Borgen was named SEC Pitcher of the Week to close out the month of March. Borgen posted a 0.78 ERA and earned a pair of wins over No. 19 Missouri. She only surrendered one run on the weekend and stifled opposing batters, who hit a mere .161 when she was in the circle. The Heath, Texas, native got the start on Friday to open the series, pitching 4.0 innings and followed up that performance with five scoreless frames in the series finale on Sunday. She held one of the league's top offenses in Missouri to just two hits while striking out a pair of Tigers.
STATEMENT SWEEP
In its first SEC series in Oxford this season, Ole Miss made a statement, sweeping No. 19 Missouri. The Rebels came out swinging on Friday night to take game one 5-1. Paige Smith blasted a three-run home run as part of a five-run third inning. They took the series on Saturday, with another five-run inning fueling the victory. Bre Roper and Abbey Latham went yard in the win, and freshman Catelyn Riley earned her first career SEC victory. Ole Miss closed it out, completing the sweep on Sunday with another 5-1 win over the Tigers. It marked the Rebels' first sweep over a ranked SEC foe since 2017 (No. 11 LSU).
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Following the conclusion of the 2021 season, Ole Miss announced the addition of two transfers who look to contribute right out of the gate. Utility player Bre Roper joins the Rebels from Georgia Tech as a fifth-year senior and has already established herself as a mainstay in the Ole Miss lineup. Roper has tallied multiple hits in 16 games and is hitting .336 on the season with 31 runs scored and 30 more batted in. Last week, Roper also recorded the 200th career hit of her career, going 3-for-3 in a 10-0 victory over Louisiana Tech.
Also making her way to Oxford is junior right-hand pitcher Brooke Vestal. The former No. 1 recruit in the nation by FloSoftball and high-school All-American joins the Rebels after spending the last three seasons at Oklahoma. Vestal has 15 appearances on the season, including a pair of complete-game shutouts against DePaul and Western Kentucky. She also combined on the Rebels' first no-hitter since 2014 against Tennessee State. The junior owns a 1.98 ERA.
ONE LAST RIDE
In 2022, four Rebels will be exercising their fifth season of eligibility as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Three returners in Abbey Latham, Anna Borgen and Sydney Gutierrez, along with Georgia Tech transfer Bre Roper are set to cap off their collegiate careers in Ole Miss uniforms.
ROOKIES IN THE RANKINGS
Head coach Jamie Trachsel's first recruiting class at Ole Miss welcomed nine freshmen to Oxford. The talented group ranked No. 10 in the nation by Extra Innings Softball bolsters a healthy mix of talent across the field. The class includes nine total signees, including four members of Extra Innings' Elite 100 Player Rankings.
Infielder Brooke Barnard was tabbed as the No. 11 ranked recruit in Extra Innings Softball's 2021 Recruiting Rankings. A three-time letterwinner at Palm Beach Gardens High School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Barnard helped lead PBGHS to district championships in 2018 and 2019, while receiving all-district, all-county and all-state honors in both seasons.
A three-time South Dakota First Team All-State and four-time Class A All-Tournament Fastpitch honoree, Lexie Brady checks in tied for 52nd in Extra Innings Softball's Recruiting Rankings. As a senior at O'Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Brady hit .544 with nine doubles, a triple and eight home runs, scoring 35 runs and driving in 28 more.
Makenna Segal comes to Oxford ranked tied for 65th in Extra Innings Softball's Recruiting Rankings. A four-time letterwinner at South Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia, she set school records in career batting average (.489), career on-base percentage (.620), home runs (34) and career walks (118).
KK Esparza rounds out the Rebel freshman class in the Extra Innings Softball's Recruiting Rankings at No. 69. Esparza was a three-time letterwinner at Friendswood High School in Friendswood, Texas, where she played under Olympic gold medalist Christa Williams-Yates.
OLE MISS PICKED 9TH IN PRESEASON SEC POLL
Ole Miss has been picked 9th in the 2022 Preseason SEC Softball Poll. Last season, Ole Miss finished eighth in the conference after being picked last in the coaches' poll. The Rebels garnered a 12-12 record in league play in 2021, with the 12 wins ranking as the second-most ever in a season in program history. In five of the past six completed seasons, Ole Miss has outperformed its projection in the conference preseason rankings.
CHAMPIONS. NOW.
The $350 Million CHAMPIONS. NOW. capital campaign has been established to vastly improve the Ole Miss Athletics facilities and raise the standard for the Rebels' level of competitiveness and success within the Southeastern Conference and nationally. The Ole Miss Softball Complex is one of the first phases of the plans with a $20 million stadium renovation, featuring a larger press box, upgraded grandstands, enlarged bullpens, as well as improved team offices and storage, helping raise the standard.
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.
