HottyToddy.com Sports Roundup March 31- April 6

For everything that happened in the world of sports on the Ole Miss campus on the week of March 31 – April 6, 2014.
Regions Bank Grove Bowl Highlights Busy Ole Miss Weekend
Ole Miss Athletics is looking forward to a big weekend, headlined by the Regions Bank Grove Bowl that kicks off at noon CT on Saturday and is free to the public. Rebel Baseball and a free Nelly concert also highlight the festivities.
The 25th annual Chucky Mullins Courage Award ceremony, presented by the M-Club, will be held Saturday morning before the spring football game. The Inn at Ole Miss will host the ceremony with breakfast beginning at 8 a.m. CT, followed by a short program that culminates with the unveiling of this year’s winner that will wear Mullins’ No. 38 jersey in 2014. A limited number of tickets remain by visiting OleMissFB.com or calling 888-REB-TKTS.
A jam-packed slate of activities begins Thursday with the Rebel Intercollegiate College-Am, hosted by the women’s golf team. It will be a shotgun start at 1 p.m., and sign-up is still available at OleMissFB.com.
The events ramp up on Friday when the women’s tennis, baseball and women’s golf teams are all in action at home.
The Rebels’ nationally ranked baseball team will host a three-game series against Auburn on Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. For tickets, visit OleMissFB.com or call 888-REB-TKTS.
There will also be a free concert in The Grove on Friday night featuring Grammy award-winning artist Nelly. The concert begins at 8:30 p.m.
Women’s tennis will host South Carolina on Friday at 3 p.m. and then a pair of matches on Sunday against Florida at 11 a.m. and Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 3 p.m. Women’s golf hosts the Rebel Intercollegiate Friday-Sunday. Admission is free for tennis matches and the golf tournament.
The Regions Bank Grove Bowl, which supports the M-Club’s J.W. “Wobble” Davidson Scholarship Fund, features Hugh Freeze’s Rebels in action at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in the culmination of spring football drills. CSS is televising the event live.
Fans that have Ole Miss baseball parking passes are encouraged to park there for football, as well. It’s recommended that everyone else park near Tad Smith Coliseum and walk around the construction (new parking garage and basketball arena) to the north.
Stadium gates open at 11 a.m., and kickoff is set for noon. While admission is free, please be mindful of prohibited items, including coolers. Gates that will be open include 8, 9 and 10 on the West side; 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 on the North; 17, 18, 20, 21 and 22 on the East; and 23 and 24 on the South. All restrooms will be available except those on the upper East concourse.
ADA parking is in the South Lot. Shuttles to Vaught-Hemingway will begin at 10 a.m. They will also take patrons to baseball and will run through the end of the baseball game.
The competition will take on a practice format that features offense vs. defense in a variety of situational scrimmage periods separated by periods of regular practice drills. Points will be awarded to each unit for various “victories” within the scrimmages.
The M-Club’s J.W. “Wobble” Davidson Scholarship Fund awards scholarships to the children of former Ole Miss letter winners.
Davidson, a three-sport star at Ole Miss and assistant football coach for 22 seasons under John Vaught, died in 1998 at the age 79. As an assistant in 1945-68, he helped coach the Rebels to 16 bowl games and six Southeastern Conference championships. He also spent 11 years as head men’s tennis coach and was adviser to the M-Club for 23 years.
The M-Club Alumni Chapter is an honor organization for men and women who have earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sanctioned sport sponsored at Ole Miss and have participated in a formal induction ceremony. Visit www.olemisssports.com/m-club for more information.
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Regions Bank Grove Bowl Week Schedule
Thursday, April 3
Women’s Golf Rebel Intercollegiate College-Am, Sign Up
Friday, April 4
Women’s Golf Rebel Intercollegiate – All day
Women’s Tennis vs. South Carolina – 3 p.m.
Baseball vs. Auburn – 6:30 p.m., Tickets
Soccer Alumni Match – 7 p.m.
Spring Concert in the Grove feat. Nelly – 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 5
Chucky Mullins Award Ceremony – 8 a.m., Tickets
Regions Bank Grove Bowl – Noon
Baseball vs. Auburn – 4 p.m., Tickets
Women’s Golf Rebel Intercollegiate – All day
Sunday, April 6
Women’s Golf Rebel Intercollegiate – All morning
Women’s Tennis vs. Florida – 11 a.m.
Baseball vs. Auburn – 1:30 p.m., Tickets
Women’s Tennis vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff – 3 p.m.
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Softball
Cantillo Selected by Chicago Bandits 

Ole Miss softball senior outfielder RT Cantillo has been a Rebel for each of the past four years. Now she will become a Bandit. Cantillo was selected by the Chicago Bandits on Monday evening at the 2014 National Pro Fast Pitch College Draft in Nashville, Tenn.
The Santa Ana, Calif., native was taken by the Bandits with the fourth pick in the fifth round of the draft. Cantillo was one of three student-athletes from the Southeastern Conference selected in the draft, joining Madison Shipman of Tennessee and Nicole Morgan of Texas A&M.
“We’re all really proud of RT and her accomplishments,” Ole Miss head coach Windy Thees said. “She’s worked hard her whole career and she’s having a great senior season this year. It’s a great honor for her and for Ole Miss softball to have one of the 20 players drafted. We know RT will be a great representative of Ole Miss.”
Cantillo currently ranks in the top 10 in the career record books at Ole Miss in batting average (2nd), hits (5th), doubles (6th), triples (T4th), home runs (9th), RBIs (7th), runs (4th), walks (4th), total bases (6th), slugging percentage (4th), on base percentage (1st), stolen bases (5th) and hit by pitch (2nd). She is one of just three players to rank in the top five in program history in career batting average, hits, runs and walks.
She broke the single-season program record with 42 runs scored during her junior season, and as a senior this year she has upped her production even further with a .495 batting average, the second highest in the SEC, including a .500 clip in league play.
There are four teams in NPF: the Arkon Racers, Chicago Bandits, Pennsylvania Rebellion and USSSA Pride. College seniors are eligible for the NPF College Draft, which features five rounds of four selections for a total of 20 overall draftees in the 2014 class. Drafting an athlete gives an NPF affiliate team the rights to that athlete for two full seasons.
NPF is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. The league, created to give elite female fast pitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women’s Pro Fast Pitch and Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL). NPF is the official development partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women’s fast pitch softball since 2002.
Ole Miss (19-18, 3-9 SEC) takes the diamond again April 7 with a doubleheader at Southeastern Louisiana at 3 and 5 p.m. CT.
For all Ole Miss softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball and on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball.
— Ole Miss Sports Information
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Track and Field
Ole Miss’ Kendricks Earns SEC Weekly Honor

Ole Miss junior Sam Kendricks added yet another Southeastern Conference weekly honor to his collection when he was named SEC co-Men’s Field Athlete of the Week on Tuesday.
For the second straight year, Kendricks won the Texas Relays pole vault with a world-leading clearance.
The reigning NCAA outdoor champ and indoor runner-up had first-attempt clearances over every bar all the way up to his world-leading height of 5.70m (18-8.25).
Having already secured victory over the rest of the field (next-closest finishers reached 18-0.5), he elected to go for a mark of 19-1 that would have broken his own school and meet record, but he missed all three attempts at that enormous height.
The Oxford, Miss., native has now cleared 18 feet in nine of his last 10 competitions (indoor and outdoor combined).
This is the seventh SEC weekly award of Kendricks’ career.
— Ole Miss Sports Information
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Women’s Tennis
Women’s Tennis Back in Top 25
Following their 25th consecutive win against rival Mississippi State, the Ole Miss women’s tennis team returned to the top 25 coming in at No. 24 in this week’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Rankings.
This is the first time since January 22, 2013 when the Rebels were ranked No. 19, that the team has been ranked inside of the ITA’s top 25. The victory over the weekend propelled the team two spots from No. 26 last week.
With the victory, the Rebels improved their record to 11-5 and 5-4 in SEC play heading into their final homestand this weekend.
The Rebels look to continue their winning ways this weekend during a three match homestand as a part of the Regions Bank Grove Bowl festivities.
Friday, April 4 No. 44 South Carolina will come to Oxford to take on the Rebels beginning at 3 p.m. On Sunday, the Rebels will play a doubleheader, first taking on the No.7 Florida Gators at 11 a.m., followed by a match against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 3 p.m.
This season, the Rebels have not lost a match outside the top 25, with losses coming against the No. 2, 5, 8, 18, and 21 ranked teams in the country.
— Ole Miss Sports Information
Rebels Set For Final Homestand

The No. 24 nationally ranked Ole Miss women’s tennis team gets ready for athree-match homestand against No. 44 South Carolina, No. 7 Florida, and University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, as part of the Regions Bank Grove Bowl festivities this weekend. It will also be the final home matches for senior Caroline Rohde-Moe.
“It’s always exciting when you have a lot of people on campus for a big weekend,” head coach Mark Beyers said.  “Hopefully some of them will find their way over to the tennis center either Friday afternoon or Sunday after church and hopefully we can get a couple wins this weekend.”
The Rebels are coming off their 25^th consecutive win against Mississippi State last weekend, downing the Bulldogs 4-2. This marked the Rebels fourth straight SEC win bringing them to 5-4 in league play.
Fans coming to Friday’s match at 3 p.m. against South Carolina will enjoy free chicken tenders between doubles and singles.  One lucky fan will win a free tennis racquet as well.
South Carolina comes into the match 12-8 overall, 3-6 in SEC play. The Gamecocks are led by Elixane Lechemia, who comes in ranked 117^th.
“We have two really good teams coming in here,” Beyers said. “South Carolina struggled for awhile this season, but they’ve really picked it up lately. They beat LSU and Arkansas this past weekend, which is no easy feat.  They’re going to come in like us, pretty confident.  It will be interesting to see which team can carry on the winning streak.”
Sunday’s doubleheader begins at 11 a.m. when the Rebel’s take on Florida. Fans will receive Ole Miss tennis glasses and another chance to win a free tennis racquet.
Florida comes into the weekend with an overall record of 14-4 and 7-2 in the SEC. They are coming off two home wins this past weekend against Arkansas and LSU. They are led by senior Sofie Oyen, who won her 100^th career singles match last weekend as well.
“Obviously Florida is one of the top programs in the country,” Beyers said. “I feel like we can compete with anybody, we’ve shown that against Georgia and Vanderbilt. Even though we came up a little short in those matches, the girls have shown that they can compete with those teams.”
Following the Florida match, Ole Miss will play Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a non-conference match starting not before 3pm.
The Rebels are looking to improve their SEC record and pick up three more wins as they close out the regular season home schedule.
Rohde-Moe has played every match in the top half of the lineup during her career and has helped lead the Rebels to the NCAA Championships each of her years as well as earned All-SEC honors twice.  Off the court, she is an outstanding student.  A member of the Honors College, Rohde-Moe has been named an ITA Scholar-Athlete twice, is a finalist for the Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year and will receive a Taylor Medal, the highest academic honor at the University of Mississippi.
Beyers talked about what Rohde-Moe has meant to the program on and off the court.
“Caroline has had a great career; she’s meant so much to this program.” “It’s hard to replace somebody like her with that kind of energy and everything she does for our program. Hopefully we can have a good last few weeks of the regular season and a great NCAA Tournament, so we can extend her career as long as possible.  The awards she’s won academically are unbelievable.  She’s the total package as far as the student-athlete goes.”
Admission to all home matches is free.
— Ole Miss Sports Information
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Women’s Basketball

Senior Valencia McFarland added to her postseason accolades as she earned AP Honorable Mention All-America honors it was announced on Tuesday, April 1. It is her first career All-American accolade and her fourth postseason honor.
McFarland, an Edwards, Miss., native picks up her fourth postseason accolade after earning All-SEC second team honors, AP All-SEC Honorable Mention and College Sports Madness fourth-team honors. The senior guard scored her 1,500th career point, becoming one of just seven players in program history to score 1500 points in program history. McFarland concluded her career with 1,655 points and graduates as the No. 6 scorer at Ole Miss. McFarland scored 20 or more points on 15 occasions this season and closed the season with double figures in each of Ole Miss’ last nine games. McFarland joins former Ole Miss great Armintie Price as the only Rebels to lead their team in steals in four consecutive years and is one of five players with 1,000 points and 500 assists. McFarland is also a two-time finalist for the C Spire/Gillom Trophy, awarded to the top women’s basketball player in Mississippi.
The Southeastern Conference had seven players earn AP All-American honors highlighted by South Carolina’s Tiffany Mitchell who was a third-team selection. Isabelle Harrison, Jennifer O’Neill, Meighan Simmons, Courtney Walker and Aleighsa Welch each joined McFarland as honorable mention selections.
For all Ole Miss women’s basketball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com, and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB and on Instagram at Ole Miss_WBB. Fans can also follow Ole Miss women’s basketball head coach Matt Insell on Twitter at @minsell.
Complete List of AP All-American Honors Recipients 
First Team Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford, 6-4, senior, Cypress, Texas Odyssey Sims, Baylor, 5-8, senior, Irving, Texas Breanna Stewart, Connecticut, 6-5, sophomore, Syracuse, N.Y. Kayla McBride, Notre Dame, 5-11, senior, Erie. Pa. Alyssa Thomas, Maryland, 6-2, senior, Harrisburg, Pa.
Second Team Bria Hartley, Connecticut, 5-8, senior, North Babylon, N.Y. Jewell Loyd, Notre Dame, 5-10, sophomore, Lincolnwood, Ill. Shoni Schimmel, Louisville, senior, Mission, Ore. Stefanie Dolson, Connecticut, 6-5, senior, Port Jervis, N.Y. Jordan Hooper, Nebraska, 6-2, senior, Alliance, Neb.
Third Team Tiffany Mitchell, South Carolina, 5-9, Charlotte, N.C. Maggie Lucas, Penn State, 5-10, senior, Narberth, Pa. Tricia Liston, Duke, 6-1, senior, River Forest, Ill. Natalie Achonwa, Notre Dame, 6-3, senior, Guelph, Ontario Elizabeth Williams, Duke, 6-3, junior, Virginia Beach, Va.
Honorable Mention Jillian Alleyne, Oregon Rachel Banham, Minnesota Tiffany Bias, Oklahoma State Brittany Boyd, California Asya Bussie, West Virginia Hallie Christofferson, Iowa State Jerica Coley, Florida International Diamond DeShields, North Carolina Aaryn Ellenberg, Oklahoma Markeisha Gatling, N.C. State Chelsea Gray, Duke Dearica Hamby, Wake Forest Jennifer Hamson, BYU Isabelle Harrison, Tennessee Bria Holmes, West Virginia Natasha Howard, Florida State Brittany Hrynko, DePaul Moriah Jefferson, Connecticut Jamie Kaplan, Tulane Jessica Kuster, Rice Samantha Logic, Iowa Valencia McFarland, Ole Miss Tyaunna Marshall, Georgia Tech Damika Martinez, Iona Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Connecticut Jennifer O’Neill, Kentucky Haiden Palmer, Gonzaga Ebony Rowe, Middle Tennessee Jennifer Schlott, Utah State Meighan Simmons, Tennessee Rachel Theriot, Nebraska Kayla Thornton, UTEP Courtney Walker, Texas A&M Aleighsa Welch, South Carolina
— Ole Miss Sports Information
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This Weekend on the Ole Miss campus:
Baseball
No. 16 Ole Miss hosts the Auburn Tigers in a three game series this weekend. A full preview of this weekend’s matchup will be on HottyToddy.com on Friday, April 4.
In the mean time, game times are:
Friday at 6:30 p.m. with fireworks after
Saturday at 4 p.m.
Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Basketball 
Marshall Henderson takes part in the State Farm 3-point Championship tonight at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
Football
The annual Grove Bowl game kick’s off at noon on Saturday, April 5. Fans who do not attend the free game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium can watch live on CSS.
— Adam Brown, HottyToddy.com, sports editor, adam.brown@hottytoddy.com