Softball Hits Road For Series At No. 19 Auburn

			OLE MISS (20-14, 1-5 SEC) vs. #19 LSU (26-9, 4-2 SEC) Auburn, Ala. Jane B. Moore Field
Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • Auburn Notes (PDF) • SEC Notes (PDF)

Friday, March 31 6 p.m. CT	Saturday, April 1 3 p.m. CT	Sunday, April 2 1 p.m. CT
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LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss Softball hits the road for a three-game series with No. 19 Auburn March 31 to April 2.
• The last time Ole Miss and Auburn met in 2021, the Rebels took the series in Oxford two games to one.
• Ole Miss' is gearing up the face its third straight Tiger opponent, having taken a game from No. 10 LSU last weekend and topping Memphis 6-0 in a midweek.
• A pair of Rebels are closing in on 200 career hits. Mya Stevenson is three away from the milestone, while Tate Whitley needs seven base hits to reach 200.
• The Rebel pitching staff boasts a 1.93 ERA on the season, the 20th best mark in the nation.
• In her last 10 games, freshman Jalia Lassiter has been one of the hottest hitting Rebels, batting .379 with 11 hits, eight runs scored and seven RBIs.
• Ole Miss boasts one of the nation's top defenses, ranking inside the top 10 in the country with 0.53 double plays per game and 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 AUBURN
Mickey Dean is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Auburn softball program. During his time on The Plains, Dean has guided the Tigers to a 189-99 overall record. The Tigers boast a 26-9 record heading into the weekend series and are 4-2 in conference play. Ranked as high as No. 19 in the NFCA Poll, Auburn is coming off a sweep of Missouri at home and a midweek win on the road at Samford. Senior Carlee McCondichie leads Auburn with a .385 batting average and 35 hits. First baseman Bri Ellis and left fielder Lindsey Garcia drive the offense, combining for 54 RBI and 14 home runs. As a whole, the Tigers rank seventh in the conference with a .307 batting average. Pitching has been the strong suit for Auburn this season, who is led by a pair of right hand pitchers in the circle. Reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week, Maddie Penta leads the team with a 13-4 record on the season and a 0.98 ERA through 100.1 innings pitched. Teammate Annabelle Widra owns an 8-1 record in 15 appearances this season. As a staff, the Tigers boast a 1.97 ERA and lead the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.17.

TAMING THE TIGERS
With wins over No. 10 LSU and Memphis in the last week, Ole Miss is looking to take down another Tiger opponent on the road at No. 19 Auburn. The Rebels earned a huge win last Friday in their SEC home opener, knocking off LSU 5-1. After being unable to win the series, Ole Miss got back in the win column with a 6-0 shutout of Memphis, marking its 20th victory of the season.

CHASING 200
Ole Miss is looking to become just the fourth team in all of Division I softball to have multiple active players with 200 career hits on its roster. Mya Stevenson and Tate Whitley are both chasing their 200th career hits in their fifth season of college softball. Stevenson, a graduate transfer, is just three shy of the milestone, while Whitley is seven away. Whitley is also climbing the Ole Miss record books, needing just four hits to pass Abbey Latham for the fourth most all-time.

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 Lassiter 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 19-1 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 victory 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 22 games under her belt this season, Whitley is back into the swing of things, hitting .323 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 2.72 ERA over the past three seasons, including a 1.93 mark through 34 games this season (20th nationally). Chason's pitching staff ranked third in the conference with 29 shutouts from 2021-22, and it already has seven this season, ranking 38th in the nation. Five of the seven shutouts this year have come at home, where the Rebels have only surrendered 11 earned runs in 95.0 innings pitched.

MY OH MYA
Slugger Mya Stevenson ranks sixth in the SEC and 18th nationally with 10 home runs through the first 34 games this season. Further, her 10 homers are tied for the eighth most in a single season in program history. The graduate transfer leads the team lead with 26 RBIs and a .682 slugging percentage. Stevenson is up to 69 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 ranks top 10 in the country in double plays, turning 0.53 per game and ninth in fielding percentage with a .979 mark. The Rebels have only committed 19 errors on 922 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 32 hits in the first 34 games and has collected multiple in eight contests already this year. Further, her 32 hits this season are a single-season career-high, topping the 28 she had last year.

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 2.49 ERA and 6-4 record through 59.0 innings pitched. Kliethermes leads the team, averaging 7.6 strikeouts per game.

Staying in the SEC, Jenna Lord joined the Rebels after playing one season at Alabama. She has appeared in 21 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 fourth All-American. She has continued to show off the power in a Rebel uniform, leading the team with 10 home runs. Stevenson has helped lead the Ole Miss offense this season, batting .306 with 26 hits and 26 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 227 career starts. She owns a .271 average at the plate and has scored a team-high 25 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

Abbey Latham

Jenna Lord

Catelyn Riley

Savana Sikes

Mya Stevenson

Mackenzie White

Tate Whitley

The University of Mississippi Athletics