Softball Takes On Memphis In Midweek Action

OLE MISS (19-14, 1-5 SEC)
vs. MEMPHIS (5-26, 0-3 American)
Oxford, Miss.
Ole Miss Softball Complex

Tuesday, March 28
6 p.m.

Watch • Live Stats

LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss Softball takes a break from SEC play to host Memphis in a midweek contest March 28 at 6 p.m. CT.
• The Rebels are 8-2 against Memphis all-time, including 5-0 at home. They have won the past two meetings 11-0.
• This past weekend, Ole Miss knocked off No. 10 LSU in its SEC home opener, but dropped the series to the Tigers.
• Ole Miss is 18-1 when scoring three or more runs this season.
• Shortstop Mikayla Allee leads the Rebels with 31 hits on the year, the most she has ever tallied in a single season.
• The Rebel pitching staff boasts a 1.99 ERA on the season, the 24th best mark in the nation.
• Freshman Jalia Lassiter has hit five triples on the season already, the fifth most nationally.
• Ole Miss boasts one of the conference's top defenses, leading the SEC with 0.55 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 MEMPHIS
Head coach Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro leads the Memphis Tigers in her first season with the program. Prothro comes to Memphis after spending the last 12 seasons as the pitching coach at Alabama. Memphis is off to a 5-26 start to the season and is coming off a tough weekend against Houston. Senior infielder Sam Ibison leads the Tigers with a .348 batting average. She is tied with Kendall Lee for the team lead in hits and runs with 24 and 10, respectively. Aliana Zavala paces Memphis' offense with four home runs and 14 runs batted in. Hallie Siems has made 17 appearances, including 14 starts in the circle. The junior owns a 7.44 ERA through 88.1 innings pitched on the season. She has 79 strikeouts and is holding opposing batters to a .292 mark at the plate.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
In its bye week from conference play, Ole Miss went 4-1 at the Rebel Invitational. 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 18-1 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 appeared in all three games against No. 10 LSU and earned a vitory in Friday's 5-1 upset. Although she has only thrown 28.1 innings on the season, Riley is showing no signs of slowing down in year two.

HOTTY TODDY TATE
After leading the SEC with 74 hits during the regular season and ending the year with 77 total, the third most ever by a Rebel, Tate Whitley is back in the lineup and has resumed her leadoff duties as the sparkplug for the Ole Miss offense. With 21 games under her belt this season, Whitley is back into the swing of things, hitting .345 with seven multi-hit games. Playing her fifth year in a Rebel uniform, she now has 193 career hits, just three away from entering a tie for the fourth most all-time.

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 2.74 ERA over the past three seasons, including a 1.99 mark through 33 games this season (24th nationally). Chason's pitching staff ranked third in the conference with 29 shutouts from 2021-22, and it already has six this season, ranking 57th in the nation. Four of the six shutouts this year have come at home, where the Rebels have only surrendered 11 earned runs in 88.0 innings pitched.

MY OH MYA
Slugger Mya Stevenson ranks sixth in the SEC and 27th nationally with nine home runs through the first 33 games this season. The graduate transfer leads the team lead with 24 RBIs and a .667 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 fifth in the country in double plays, turning 0.55 per game and ranks third in the conference and 12th in the NCAA with a .979 fielding percentage. The Rebels have only committed 19 errors on 894 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 .352 batting average. Allee has a team-best 31 hits in the first 33 games and has collected multiple in eight contests already this year. Further, her 31 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 9-5 start so far this season and now have won 85-of-104 games at home, dating back to the start of the 2019 season.

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 16 appearances in the circle, boasting a 2.72 ERA and 5-4 record through 54.0 innings pitched. Kliethermes leads the team and ranks 98th nationally, averaging 7.8 strikeouts per game.

Staying in the SEC, Jenna Lord joined the Rebels after playing one season at Alabama. She has appeared in 20 games, making 12 starts in the outfield. Lord is batting .235 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 .309 with 25 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 226 career starts. She owns a .269 average at the plate and has scored a team-high 23 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

Jalia Lassiter

Jenna Lord

Catelyn Riley

Savana Sikes

Mya Stevenson

Mackenzie White

Tate Whitley

The University of Mississippi Athletics