Game Notes: Ole Miss softball welcomes Southeast Missouri for home opener

Ole Miss (12-4) vs. Southeast Missouri (5-5)
March 2, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Ole Miss Softball Complex

Leading Off

• After playing its first 16 games of the season on the road, Ole Miss Softball returns to Oxford to host Southeast Missouri in its home-opener on March 2 at 6 p.m. It kicks off a 10 game homestand for the Rebels.
• Ole Miss wrapped up its weekend at the Knights Classic in Orlando, Florida, with a 4-1 record. The Rebels now sit at 12-4, their best start to a season since opening the 2018 season 13-3.
• Outfielder Tate Whitley has perfectly assumed the role of leadoff batter for the Rebels. The senior ranks second nationally with 26 hits and 13th in the country with a .520 batting average.
• Right-hand pitcher Savannah Diederich is coming off one of the best pitching performances of her career. The senior tossed 6.2 innings of no-hit ball before Oakland broke up the bid with a bloop single this past weekend. Diederich owns a 1.56 ERA on the season through a team-high 36.0 innings pitched.
• Transfer Bre Roper has stepped into the Rebel lineup and made an immediate impact. The senior is batting .453 with 21 hits and 10 walks.
• Catcher KK Esparza is off to a hot start in her collegiate career. She’s tallied 12 hits, including three home runs and eight RBIs through the first 16 games. The Friendswood, Texas, native currently ranks eighth in the SEC among freshmen with a .364 batting average.
• One of the Rebels’ top offensive weapons in Abbey Latham is back for an extra season in Oxford. The fifth year senior currently ranks inside the top five in program history in doubles (36), home runs (30), RBIs (132) and slugging percentage (.530).

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.

Hotty Toddy Tate

Senior Tate Whitley has been a sparkplug for the Ole Miss offense this season. Batting in the leadoff spot, Whitley went 11-of-17 (.647) at the Troy Invitational, scoring eight runs and tallying five RBIs. She followed it up with a 9-for-16 (.563) weekend in Orlando last week. Whitley has reached base in 14 straight games for the Rebels and has a hit in 10 of her last 11. The Angleton, Texas, native already has 26 hits on the year, tied for the second-most in the nation while batting a hot .520 (13th nationally).

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 a hit in each of her last eight games and is hitting .457 on the season with eight runs scored and nine more batted in.

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 two appearances on the season, including a three-hit complete-game shutout against DePaul last weekend at the Knights Classic, where she struck out a career-high nine batters.

Okay-K

Freshman KK Esparza is off to a hot start in her collegiate career. Esparza led the Rebels with a .500 batting average opening weekend at the Easton Invitational. She currently leads the team with three home runs, two of which came this past weekend against DePaul in Ole Miss’ 2-0 victory. She has 12 hits on the year to go along with eight RBI. The Friendswood, Texas, native currently ranks eighth in the SEC among freshmen with a .364 batting average.

Shut Down Stuff

After ranking second in the SEC and 11th in the nation last season with 16 shutouts, the Rebels’ pitching staff is back at it in 2022. Ole Miss tallied a pair of shutouts last weekend at the Knights Classic, bringing its total to four on the year, including a one-hit complete-game shutout from senior Savannah Diederich.

Spinny Rebs

Borgen, who is entering her fifth season in a Rebel uniform, has established herself as one of the most accomplished pitchers in Ole Miss history, ranking sixth all-time with a career ERA of 2.50. She is joined by Diederich, who ranks ninth with a 2.57 ERA. Together, the duo packs a one-two punch for the Rebel pitching staff.

Latham’s Legacy

One of the Rebels’ top offensive weapons in Abbey Latham returns for an extra season in Oxford. The fifth-year senior is coming off one of her most productive seasons and is ready to continue it into the 2022 season. Latham currently ranks inside the top five in program history in doubles (36), home runs (30), RBIs (132) and slugging percentage (.530). Climbing her way through the record books, the Livingston, Alabama, native looks to cement her legacy as one of the Rebel greats.

No Place Like Home

The Ole Miss Softball Complex has been an absolute fortress for the Rebels over the last few years. After going a perfect 8-0 at home in 2020, Ole Miss won each of its first 13 home games in 2021 to set the program record for a streak within the same season, finishing off the streak with 24 straight home victories overall. Finishing the season 24-3 at the Ole Miss Softball Complex, the Rebels have won 57-of-65 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 42-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.

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 eight 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.