Softball Closes Out Regular Season Against No. 14 Alabama

			OLE MISS (28-23, 7-14 SEC) vs. #14 ALABAMA (36-16, 12-9 SEC) Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Softball Complex
Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • Alabama Notes (PDF) • SEC Notes (PDF)

Friday, May 5 6 p.m. CT	Saturday, May 6 1 p.m. CT	Sunday, May 7 1 p.m. CT
Watch • Live Stats	Watch • Live Stats	Watch • Live Stats

LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss Softball wraps up its regular season in Oxford, hosting No. 14 Alabama May 5-7.
• The last the two teams met in Oxford in 2017, the Rebels won the series two games to one, but the Crimson Tide lead the all-time series 63-6.
• Ole Miss will honor eight seniors on Saturday in Mikayla Allee, Nyomi Jones, Makenna Kliethermes, Savana Sikes, Paige Smith, Mya Stevenson, Brooke Vestal and Tate Whitley.
• Entering the weekend, the Rebels boast the No. 9 strength of schedule and No. 34 RPI in the nation.
• Tate Whitley has registered a hit in 15 of her last 17 games, including six contests with multiple hits.
• Senior Mikayla Allee has started 247 games in a Rebel uniform, the most by any player in Ole Miss history.
• Mya Stevenson recently joined the 200-200 club, becoming one of six active NCAA student-athletes with at least 200 hits and 200 runs batted in.
• Eight of Paige Smith's 15 hits (53 percent) in SEC play have left the ballpark.
• Head coach Jamie Trachsel became the fastest to 100 career wins at Ole Miss in program history, needing only 159 games to accomplish the feat.

SCOUTING ALABAMA
Patrick Murphy leads Alabama softball in his 25th season as head coach, having brought the Tide to 13 Women's College World Series appearances, including a national championship during his tenure. The Crimson Tide come into final weekend of the regular seaosn ranked No. 14 in the nation with a 36-16 record overall and 12-9 mark in conference play. Alabama is fresh off of a series win against No. 13 LSU, featuring two complete game shutouts by Montana Fouts. As a team, Alabama is batting .274 on the season. Three batters boast an average of .300 or better led by Kenleigh Cahalan and Ally Shipman at .316. Cahalan paces the Tide with 35 runs scored, 50 hits and 29 walks. Ashley Prange is the power threat in the Alabama lineup, responsible for 13 of the team's 45 home runs. The Tide's pitching staff has been one of the SEC's best this season, ranking 13th in the country with a 1.92 team ERA. Senior Montana Fouts leads the team, ranking ninth in the country with 7 shutouts. She also leads the nation with 262 strikeouts. Alex Salter, Jaala Torrence and Lauren Esman round out the rotation for Alabama in the circle.

SENIOR SENDOFF
On Saturday, Ole Miss will honor eight seniors and six managers. Four Rebels, Mikayla Allee, Savana Sikes, Mya Stevenson and Tate Whitley, are exercising their fifth season of eligibility and are set to cap off their collegiate careers in Ole Miss uniforms. Nyomi Jones, Makenna Kliethermes, Paige Smith and Brooke Vestal all will participate in Senior Day for the Rebels along with managers Allison Rager, Bre Roper, Kyler Holton, Jevon Herbert, Emily Reid and Anna Tate.

SWINGING FOR THE FENCES
Paige Smith has powered the Ole Miss offense down the stretch in conference play. Despite hitting only .231, the senior has come up clutch for the Rebels in big moments. Eight of her 15 hits in SEC play have left the ballpark, giving her a team-best 18 RBIs and 37 on the season. Further, the Corona, California, product has homered in three of her last four games.

BIT BACK
Ole Miss picked up a big win last weekend, taking down No. 14 Florida 7-2 for its first win in Gainesville since 2014. The Rebels utilized two big offensive innings and held their ground on defense, stranding 12 Florida runners on base. Brooke Barnard registered her first-career multi-hit game, clearing the bases to drive in the go-ahead runs with an RBI triple in the fifth, and Paige Smith delivered the dagger in the seventh with a three-run home run. Catelyn Riley earned her sixth victory of the season, tossing 6.1 innings and only allowing one run.

HOTTY TODDY TATE
Back in the lineup after missing most of February, Tate Whitley has resumed her leadoff duties as the sparkplug for the Ole Miss offense. With nearly 40 games under her belt this season, Whitley is back into the swing of things, hitting a team-best .344 with 13 multi-hit games. Playing her fifth year in a Rebel uniform, she has become one of the most consistent hitters in school history. The Angleton, Texas, native collected her 200th on April 8th against No. 15 Kentucky, joining Lauren Grill, Kylan Becker and Elantra Cox as the only player in program history to tally 200 hits in their career. She now ranks fourth all-time at Ole Miss with 215 hits and is fifth in program history with a .348 career average at the plate.

MY OH MYA
Slugger Mya Stevenson ranks 10th in the SEC and 56th nationally with 12 home runs in 46 games played this season. Further, her 12 homers are tied for the third most in a single season in program history. The graduate transfer leads the team with a .598 slugging percentage and is second on the team with 33 RBI. Stevenson is up to 71 career home runs, the most among all active players in Division I College Softball.

HOT HITTING
Ole Miss' offense has been hot in its last 13 games. As a team, the Rebels have tallied 101 hits, including 43 for extra bases, while boasting a .291 mark at the plate. Among those leading the offensive attack are Keila Kamoku, Tate Whitley, Lexie Brady and Savana Sikes. Kamoku has been on a tear as of late, hitting .378 in her last 13 games. Whitley and Sikes have contributed at the top of the lineup with 29 combined hits in that span. Kamoku and Paige Smith have also utilized the long ball over the last few weeks, smacking four and six, respectively.

FURBUSH CALLS GAME (AGAIN)
Aynslie Furbush called game for the second time this season on April 21 in the Rebels' 8-5 win over No. 21 Texas A&M. The junior stepped up, smashing a walk-off three-run home run to help Ole Miss topple the Aggies in the series opener. Earlier this season in Mexico, Furbush took matters into her own hands, throwing all 8.0 innings, stranding 12 runners on base, and hitting the game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to walk off the Liberty, 3-2.

200 CLUB
Ole Miss is one of eight teams in all of Division I softball this year to have multiple active players with 200 career hits on its roster. Tate Whitley notched her 200th career hit on April 8 against No. 15 Kentucky with an infield single in the first inning. Her teammate Mya Stevenson recorded her 200th career hit a week later, hitting a three-run home run to help the Rebels top Missouri in the rubber match to take the series.

TAMING THE TIGERS
Ole Miss softball picked up its first SEC series victory of the season in Columbia, Missouri. After dropping game one to the Tigers, the Rebels battled back to take the series. Down one run going into the seventh inning, Ole Miss rallied for five runs in the top half of the inning and held on for a 7-6 victory. With the series on the line Monday night, the Rebels captured an early 5-2 lead, but Missouri tied the contest up at five in the fifth inning. Both teams battled into extra innings until Keila Kamoku stepped to the plate and delivered the knockout punch with a two-run home run to left in the ninth inning. Vestal came back out for the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order, slamming to door shut on Missouri and clinching the series for Ole Miss with a 7-5 victory.

KEEPING IT 💯
Lexie Brady's career day at the plate helped Jamie Trachsel earn her 100th victory as a Rebel as Ole Miss toppled No. 15 Kentucky 9-3 on April 9. With the victory, Trachsel became the quickest coach to 100 wins in program history, needing only 159 games to reach the century mark. The Rebels put on an offensive clinic against the Wildcats, scoring seven runs in the second inning. Tate Whitley and Savana Sikes each sparked the offense going 3-for-4 on the afternoon, but it was Brady who shined at the plate, hitting a three-run bomb and a double. Catelyn Riley was battled in the circle, holding the Kentucky offense on only one earned run on four hits while striking out five in the complete game effort.

THE BULL IS BACK
After suffering an injury in the Rebels season opener and missing a month of action, Catelyn Riley returned just in time for conference play. Last season, Riley was 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. Back healthy in 2023, she has earned wins over No. 10 LSU, No. 19 Auburn and No. 15 Kentucky and No. 14 Florida. The Dandridge, Tennessee, native currently ranks second on the team with a 2.36 ERA. Although she has only thrown 71.1 innings on the season, the sophomore is showing no signs of slowing down in year two.

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 14-9 at home this season and have now won 90-of-113 games at home, dating back to the start of the 2019 season.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
So far this season, three has been the magic number for the Ole Miss offense. The Rebels boast a 27-7 record when scoring three or more runs. Further, Ole Miss' pitching and defense have kept them in almost every game this season, only allowing more than three runs in 16 of 51 games.

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 2.90 ERA over the past three seasons, including a 2.80 mark through 51 games this season (68th nationally). Chason's pitching staff ranked third in the conference with 29 shutouts from 2021-22 and has eight this season, ranking 81st in the nation. Six of the eight shutouts this year have come at home, where the Rebels have only surrendered 43 earned runs in 151.0 innings pitched.

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 13th in the country in double plays, turning 0.49 per game and 35th in fielding percentage with a .972 mark. The Rebels have only committed 39 errors on 1,412 chances.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
Fifth-year senior Mikayla Allee has quietly put together the best offensive season of her career. The Corona, California, has climbed the lineup and ranks third on the team with a .296 batting average. Allee has a 40 hits this season, second most on the team, and has collected multiple in eight contests this year. Further, her 40 hits this season are a single-season career-high, topping the 28 she had last year.

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.

RebelsCalendar

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mikayla Allee

Brooke Barnard

Lexie Brady

Aynslie Furbush

Nyomi Jones

Keila Kamoku

Makenna Kliethermes

Catelyn Riley

Bre Roper

Savana Sikes

Paige Smith

Mya Stevenson

Brooke Vestal

Tate Whitley

The University of Mississippi Athletics