Softball Hosts No. 10 LSU In SEC Home Opener

			OLE MISS (18-12, 0-3 SEC) vs. #10 LSU (24-5, 2-4 SEC) Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex
Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • LSU Notes (PDF) • SEC Notes (PDF)

Friday, March 24 1 p.m. CT	Saturday, March 25 6 p.m. CT	Sunday, March 26 1 p.m. CT
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LEADING OFF
• SEC Softball is back in Oxford as Ole Miss welcomes No. 10 LSU to town for a three-game series March 24-26.
• The Rebels have won three consecutive SEC home opening series dating back to the 2019 season.
• Ole Miss is 6-26 against the Tigers on their home field; however the Rebels swept LSU the last time the two teams faced off in Oxford in 2017.
• Shortstop Mikayla Allee leads the Rebels with 30 hits on the year, the most she has ever tallied in a single season.
• Ole Miss has won five of its last six contests in run-rule fashion, including four straight.
• At the Rebel Invitational, 17 different players scored and 14 recorded a hit over the course of five games.
• Last week, Mya Stevenson nearly doubled her RBI total for the season, driving in 11 of her 24 runs.
• Ole Miss boasts one of the conference's top defenses, leading the SEC with 0.53 double plays per game and ranking third with a .979 fielding percentage.
• The Rebels' 2023 roster features 15 returners, four impact transfers and eight freshmen who were ranked as the No. 3 signing class in the nation by ExtraInningSoftball.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
With over 600 career wins and four trips to the College World Series, Beth Torina leads LSU in her 12th season as head coach. The Tigers boast a 24-5 on the year and are ranked as high as No. 10 by D1Softball heading into the weekend series. Last weekend the Tigers lost their first SEC series after being swept by No. 4 Tennessee. However, during their midweek matchup, LSU bounced back into the win column, snapping McNeese's five-game win streak with a 6-2 victory.

Junior infielder Danieca Coffey leads LSU with a .430 batting average that ranks sixth in the SEC. She paces the team with 40 hits, ranking second in the league and 16th in the nation. Junior shortstop Taylor Pleasants powers the offense with the long ball. She leads the team with eight home runs and currently ranks second in the SEC with 36 RBIs. LSU's ace, Ali Kilponen, currently owns an 8-2 record with a 1.89 ERA through 70.1 innings pitched. The graduate pitcher has tossed eight complete games, including three shutouts. Kilponen ranks 10th in the SEC in strikeouts, mowing down 71 batters.

STARTING FAST
As of late, the Rebels have wasted no time to get their offense going. In six games last week, Ole Miss scored 20 of its 52 total runs in the first inning. This trend of scoring early has been something that the Rebel offense has done all season, with 51 percent of its runs scored coming in the first two innings. Further, Ole Miss is 10-1 when scoring in the first inning and 13-2 when it strikes first this season.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Ole Miss capped off a 4-1 weekend at the Rebel Invitational this past weekend. It was a total team effort as 17 different players scored and 14 recorded a hit, helping the Rebs run-rule their opponents in four contests. Everyone got in on the action, with Mikayla Allee, Savana Sikes and Jalia Lssiter all leading the way with six hits and five runs batted in each. Among those to contribute was freshman Mackenzie White, who notched her first two collegiate hits and delivered the walk-off single against St. Thomas.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
So far this season, three has been the magic number for the Ole Miss offense. The Rebels boast a 17-1 record when scoring three or more runs, with their only loss coming against No. 24 Oregon on February 11 in the second game of the season.

THE BULL IS BACK
Nicknamed "The Bull" for her relentless energy and competitive mentality, Catelyn Riley played a big role in the Rebels' charge through the second half of last season. She became a mainstay in the Ole Miss lineup, boasting a .361 average at the plate, while posting a 3.46 ERA through 81.0 innings pitched in the circle and collecting a team-high 12 wins, the second-most by an Ole Miss freshman pitcher. After missing the first month of the season with an injury, the Dandridge, Tennessee, native got her first start of the season against the No. 4 Tennessee Lady Volunteers and held one of the nation's most potent offenses to two hits in a narrow 1-0 defeat. This past weekend she got the nod against St. Thomas and earned her first victory of the year. Although she has only thrown 16.1 innings on the season, Riley is showing no signs of slowing down in year two.

HOTTY TODDY TATE
After missing suffering an early season injury, senior Tate Whitley is back in the lineup and has resumed her leadoff duties as the sparkplug for the Ole Miss offense. The Angleton, Texas, native led the SEC with 74 hits during the regular season and ended the year with 77 total, the third most ever by a Rebel. With 18 games under her belt this season, Whitley is back into the swing of things, hitting .354 with six multi-hit games. Playing her fifth year in a Rebel uniform, she now has 190 career hits, passing Lisa Conchos for the eighth most in program history.

SPINNY REBELS
Since the arrival of pitching coach Ryker Chason, the Ole Miss pitching staff has been one of the SEC's best. The Spinny Rebels boast a 2.82 ERA over the past three seasons, including a 2.06 mark through 30 games this season (31st nationally). Chason's pitching staff ranked third in the conference with 29 shutouts from 2021-22, and it already has six this season, ranking 49th in the nation. Four of the six shutouts this year have come at home, where the Rebels have only surrendered seven earned runs in 67.0 innings pitched.

MY OH MYA
Slugger Mya Stevenson ranks sixth in the SEC and 18th nationally with nine home runs through the first 30 games this season. This week the Mesquite, Texas, native blasted two home runs and nearly doubled her RBI total, driving in 11 runs. The graduate transfer leads the team lead with 24 RBIs and a .736 slugging percentage. Stevenson is up to 68 career home runs, the most among all active players in Division I College Softball.

LANDSHARK DEFENSE
At Ole Miss, Landshark is a term that was first adopted by the Rebel football team's defensive unit. This spring, a different team on campus has adopted the Landshark defensive mindset. Ole Miss softball boasts one of the most sound defenses in the nation. It leads the SEC and is seventh in the country in double plays, turning 0.53 per game and ranks third in the conference and 14th in the NCAA with a .979 fielding percentage. The Rebels have only committed 17 errors on 800 chances.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
Nearing the halfway point of the 2023 season, fifth-year senior Mikayla Allee is quietly putting together the best offensive season of her career. The Corona, California, has climbed the lineup and currently leads the team with a .366 batting average. Allee has a team-best 30 hits in the first 30 games and has collected multiple in eight contests already this year. Further, her 30 hits this season are a single-season career-high, topping the 28 she had last year.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Ole Miss Softball Complex has been an absolute fortress for the Rebels since the arrival of head coach Jamie Trachsel. After going 24-3 at home in 2021 and 19-6 in Oxford last season, Ole Miss is ready to defend its home field again in 2023. The Rebels are off to an 8-3 start so far this season and now have won 84-of-101 games at home, dating back to the start of the 2019 season.

ONE LAST RIDE
In 2023, four Rebels will be exercising their fifth season of eligibility as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Two returners in Mikayla Allee and Tate Whitley, along with Marshall transfer Mya Stevenson and Georgia transfer Savana Sikes, are set to cap off their collegiate careers in Ole Miss uniforms.

TRANSFER TO THE 'SIP
Head Coach Jamie Trachsel dipped into the transfer portal this offseason to add top-tier talent to her 2023 roster, welcoming in four transfers who have stepped right in to contribute this season.

Makenna Kliethermes graduated last May from Oregon and joins the Rebels pitching staff with two years of eligibility remaining. So far this season, she has made 15 appearances in the circle, boasting a 2.85 ERA and 5-4 record through 51.2 innings pitched. Kliethermes leads the team and ranks 88th nationally, averaging 8.0 strikeouts per game.

Staying in the SEC, Jenna Lord joined the Rebels after playing one season at Alabama. She has appeared in 19 games, making 11 starts in the outfield. Lord is batting .250 on the year with eight hits and three RBI.

Making her way to Oxford as a graduate transfer, Mya Stevenson wrapped up her career at Marshall as one of the program's top sluggers and the fourth All-American. She has continued to show off the power in a Rebel uniform, leading the team with nine home runs. Stevenson has helped lead the Ole Miss offense this season, batting .333 with 24 hits and 24 RBI.

Sikes joins the Rebels after electing to play her fifth and final season in Oxford. The former Georgia Bulldog has started every game for the Rebels at third base this season, giving her 223 career starts. She owns a .279 average at the plate and has scored a team-high 22 runs.

OLE MISS PICKED 10TH IN PRESEASON SEC POLL
Ole Miss has been picked 10th in the 2023 Preseason SEC Softball Poll as voted on by the conference's 13 head coaches. Last season, Ole Miss finished eighth in the conference with a 12-12 record that included series wins over South Carolina, #12 Tennessee, #16 Georgia and #19 Missouri. In six of the past seven completed seasons, Ole Miss has outperformed its projection in the conference preseason rankings.

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

Makenna Kliethermes

Jenna Lord

Catelyn Riley

Savana Sikes

Mya Stevenson

Mackenzie White

Tate Whitley

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