Ole Miss Softball Set to Compete in Battle At the Beach

The Ole Miss softball team continues its season-opening road trip this weekend, traveling to Coastal Carolina to compete in five games at the Battle at the Beach tournament hosted by the Chanticleers.

Ole Miss (3-3) will open play at the tournament on Friday morning with a pair of games against Iowa State (4-0) and St. Bonaventure. Play will continue on Saturday with games against the Cyclones and host Coastal Carolina (2-3) before concluding with a single game Sunday against the Bonnies.

It marks the first time for the Rebels to compete at the Battle at the Beach.

Ole Miss is coming off a six-game road trip to open the season at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by nationally-ranked Arizona State. The Rebels posted a 3-3 record in the annual event, picking up wins over San Jose State, Fresno State and Western Michigan. The Rebels fell in tight contests with Oregon State, No. 16 Arizona State and UC Santa Barbara.

Sophomore outfielder Miranda Strother led the Rebels at the plate, batting at a .500 clip with four RBI and two runs scored. She drove in the game-winning run against Western Michigan to give the Rebels the walk-off win and also drove in the lone run for the Rebels in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Oregon State. She is one of four players to hit over .350 in the opening weekend of competition.

Junior pitcher Madi Osais led the Rebels in the circle, making five appearances and posting a 2-3 mark on the weekend. Osias picked up wins over Western Michigan and San Jose State. She holds a 2.86 ERA with 21 strikeouts and 13 walks through 22.0 innings of work while holding opponents to a .160 batting average against.

She also was one of the top run producers for the offense, hitting a pair of home runs, including a two-run shot in the game against the Sun Devils,

The Rebels open the Battle at the Beach with the first of two games against Iowa State at 9 a.m. CT on Fridaymorning. The Cyclones enter the weekend after a perfect opening week, posting a 4-0 record at home with a pair of wins over Utah State and South Dakota State.

Katie Johnson (4-0) led Iowa State in the circle, pitching 19.0 innings and posting 12 strikeouts to only six walks while pitching two shutouts on the weekend.

At the plate, Rachel Hartman leads the Cyclones with a .545 batting average to go along with five RBI and two runs scored. She is one of four players with more than one at bat on the weekend to hit above the .350 mark for Iowa State. As a team, the Cyclones have tallied four home runs, 21 RBI and scored 24 runs.

St. Bonaventure opens its season at the Battle at the Beach with its first game of the 2015 season coming against the Rebels.

Host Coastal Carolina enters the weekend with an overall mark of 2-3 after picking up a pair of wins over Lafayette last weekend. The Chanticleers then dropped the final three games of the Kickin’ Chicken Classic by falling to Virginia Tech and then losing a doubleheader to Maryland.

The two-time defending Big South champions, Coastal Carolina was picked to win a third consecutive conference title behind the arm of two-time Pitcher of the Year Kiana Quolas. Quolas holds a 1-2 record through her three starts in 19.0 innings of work. She also hits at a .400 clip to this point of the year.

Also hitting well for the Chanticleers is Kailey Mellen who is batting at a .417 clip with three RBI and three runs scored through the first five games.

Ole Miss will face Iowa State at 9 a.m. CT Friday followed by St. Bonaventure at 11:30 a.m. CT. The Rebels will then face Iowa State (9 a.m. CT) and host Coastal Carolina (2 p.m. CT) on Saturday. The tournament closes for the Rebels with a single game against St. Bonaventure at 9 a.m. CT on Sunday morning.

Courtesy of Bill Bunting, Ole Miss Athletics