Bulldogs Host Ole Miss In First Of Disjoined Three-Game Series
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Mississippi State (26-21, 6-12 SEC) will renew their rivalry with Ole Miss (24-19, 4-11) for the 29th time on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Starkville and will test the Rebels again in Oxford next Tuesday at 6 p.m. The two squads will conclude the series on April 26 in Madison as part of the M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday evening's match-up in Starkville will be broadcast live by WMSV 91.1 FM with Anthony Craven calling all the balls and strikes. Live in-game action can also be followed via a live statistics link at the official Internet home for the Mississippi State athletic department, www.MStateAthletics.com. Admission to all 2005 MSU Softball home games is free.
State is coming off a midweek rout of UAB in which they tallied their highest hit total (13) since February 6 in an 11-1 mercy rule killing of the Blazers that snapped a three-game losing skid for the Bulldogs. Ole Miss will ride a four-game losing streak into Starkville, including dropping all three games with 10th-ranked Georgia this past weekend in Oxford.
Ole Miss is playing really well right now and probably the best that they have in a few years, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. I think it will be a good battle. We are both fighting for those last spots in the SEC Tournament and a possible bid into the NCAA Regionals, so that sort of brings added tension to the game. It's always a tough battle between Ole Miss and Mississippi State in any sport.
I also think changing around our series where we play one in Starkville, one in Oxford and one in the Jackson area will be a great thing for softball in the state of Mississippi. I know that we're really looking forward to that.
Boasting one of the better pitching staffs in the SEC, the Rebels also feature one of the better individual league arms as well in sophomore lefthander Mary Jane Callahan (9-9, 1.38 ERA). With Callahan in the circle, the Rebels have already posted victories over #21 Texas A&M and defending national champion UCLA. Callahan is holding opponents to a paltry .205 clip this season and has struck out 117 batters in 121.2 innings from the circle.
Callahan has gotten much of the hype in the offensive lineup as well where the Texan boasts a team-best .406 batting average with a pair of home runs and 18 RBI. Behind her, the Rebels will also throw a pair of .300 hitters at the Bulldogs, including the always dangerous DeDe Justice (.368) who paces the Rebels in both home runs (6) and RBI (21).
The Maroon and White took all three games from the Rebels and have proven victorious in 10 of the last 12 series meetings dating back to the 2000 season. The only series victory for Ole Miss came in 2003 when the Rebels got a pair of Justice walk-off home runs in games two and three to avenge a 14-0 setback in the Oxford series opener. The Bulldogs are 12-2 against the Rebels in Starkville, while the clubs have split 14 meetings in Oxford. The April 26 contest in Madison will mark the first neutral site meeting in the history of the series.
