The Lady Rebel softball team will play the Auburn Tigers in a three-game series this weekend in Auburn, Ala., as it continues SEC play.
Carly Hummel releases a pitch during a game this season. (File Photo: Austin McAfee/The DM)
The Ole Miss softball team will take on Auburn in a three-game series beginning today. After getting swept by No. 3 Florida at home, the Rebels (19-21, 1-11 Southeastern Conference) hope to rebound on the road.
The Rebels have been struggling mightily since the conference schedule began, and facing an Auburn (23-14, 4-8 SEC) team that has also had its share of struggles in the SEC could be what head coach Windy Thees needs to get her squad back on track.
“We’re looking forward to getting to Auburn and carrying over our hard work from practice into this weekend’s games,” Thees said in a release from Ole Miss Sports Information. “We’re playing hard out there and we’re going to continue to do that and try to get some wins against a good Tigers team.”
The Tigers are coming off a good weekend at Mississippi State that saw Auburn take two of three games in the series.
Auburn is hitting .288 as a team and is led offensively by freshman infielder Emily Carosone, who boasts a .402 batting average with three home runs and 28 RBIs. Carosone is one of four Tiger hitters who are hitting over .300 on the season.
Comparatively, Ole Miss holds a .265 team batting average. Junior outfielder R.T. Cantillo is the Rebels’ leader at the plate with a .336 average. Cantillo has five home runs and 23 RBIs this year. She is one of six Rebel hitters with an average over .300.
Freshman Marcy Harper leads Auburn in the circle with a 12-6 record and 2.86 ERA. Harper has totaled 83 strikeouts in 112.2 innings this season.
Junior Carly Hummel is the Rebels’ primary pitcher, as she is 8-12 on the year with a 4.36 ERA. Hummel has 80 strikeouts in 102.2 innings, but she has struggled with command, allowing 51 walks on the year.
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Auburn. Saturday’s game will start at 6 p.m., and the series finale will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday.
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