Ole Miss Softball to Play Mississippi State in Fall Exhibition Saturday

Ole Miss Softball vs Georgia on May 6th, 2015 in the SEC Tournament in Baton Rouge, LA.
Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics

The Ole Miss softball team begins fall ball action with a charity game with in-state rival Mississippi State on Saturday at Veteran’s Park in Tupelo, Mississippi. The Tupelo Parks and Recreation Department is hosting the event.

The schedule will feature a free youth clinic for fans in the area beginning at 9:30 a.m. followed by an autograph session with both teams and a scrimmage between the Rebels and Bulldogs at 2:00 p.m.

Admission is $3 and the proceeds from the day will benefit the Tupelo Softball Association. More information and the schedule of events at Veteran’s Park can be found here.

Head coach Mike Smith is excited to get the fall started with an event that will benefit youth softball in the area.

“It started as us trying to gain fast pitch softball popularity in the state of Mississippi,” Smith said. “I got with Vann (Stuedeman) and we talked about doing a clinic at their place, or a clinic at our place before the Tupelo Board of Visitors talked about doing a clinic and a game there. It was perfect solution for what Vann and I were trying to do.”

“We’re trying to gain notoriety for the game of softball. There’s that heated rivalry between Ole Miss and Mississippi State, but we wanted to branch out our game and take it to another level in the state of Mississippi. If there’s any way Mississippi State and Ole Miss can do that, we want to. It’s an opportunity to give back to the public,” Smith added.

Ole Miss looks to continue it’s momentum and growth from last season in 2016, and that begins now with the valuable fall reps. Senior pitcher Madi Osias is excited to get that started.

“I’m really excited to play (Mississippi) State this weekend,” Osias said. “We have a great group of girls who work really hard and our coaches have put so much into helping us succeed this fall. I’m pumped to see how our hard work is going to pay off against our rival.”

The remainder of the fall schedule features seven home games against various area teams including defending junior college national champion Chipola College and the nearby Memphis Tigers. Admission is free for all home games this fall season.

The first games at the Ole Miss Softball Complex will be Sunday October 4 at 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. against Delta State and Chipola College, respectively.

For the full fall schedule and to keep up with the Rebels, visit OleMissSports.com or follow the team on Twitter and Facebook.

Story and photo courtesy Ole Miss Athletics