Ole Miss softball (23-18) will travel to El Paso, Texas, this weekend to take on the University of Texas at El Paso (18-26) on Friday and Saturday.
Coming off a 7-0 shutout against the University of Louisiana at Monroe on Wednesday night, the Rebels are looking to bring this momentum into the weekend. Ole Miss outhit ULM 11-1; the one hit by ULM marked a season low in hits allowed for the Rebels.
Ole Miss has only played UTEP once before, back in 2011, and defeated the Miners 6-4. They hope to have the same success again in this season’s matchup.
With players such as senior Elantra Cox, who scored her 142nd career run this past game, good for most in school history, the Rebels are feeling good. Cox had 34 runs her freshman year, 30 runs her sophomore year and 51 runs her junior year. There are only 12 games left in the regular season, but this weekend could be an opportunity for Cox to add to her 27 runs this season and potentially break last year’s record.
Cox also extended her streak of safely reaching base to 11 games after Wednesday night’s matchup. Accumulating 18 stolen bases throughout the course of the season, Cox is definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Right behind Cox in most runs this season is junior Kylan Becker, who has 22 runs so far. The Miami native has performed well at the plate this season, leading the team with her .323 average, as she looks to improve this with the season winding down.
Ole Miss softball huddles up after the game against Arkansas on April 24th, 2016. Photo courtesy: Ole Miss Athletics
Other Rebel players to look out for this weekend include the sophomore pair of Kaylee Horton and Autumn Gillespie. Both went 2-for-2 at the plate Wednesday night against ULM, with Horton scoring two runs and Gillespie notching a triple and a double, good for a 2.50 slugging percentage for the game.
In addition to having a strong offense, the Rebels will also test UTEP with their pitching. Ole Miss has a 2.72 ERA and Kaitlin Lee leads the team in wins (13-8), starts (19), innings pitched (128.1) and strikeouts with 64.
The Miners, who are on a four-game winning streak and have won seven of their past 10 games, are anxious to take on the Rebels with the hopes of continuing their winning streak. UTEP is going up against its second SEC opponent of the season; the Missouri Tigers were the first at the beginning of the season, which ended up with a loss for UTEP.
After returning from the Lone Star state, the Rebels will take on Alcorn State at home in a double header on Tuesday, April 14 at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
