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Today’s roundup features Ole Miss Sports.
Rebels’ Strong Run in SEC Tournament Comes Up Short
Although Ole Miss fell in the SEC Softball Tournament quarterfinals Thursday night, there’s nothing for the Rebels to hang their heads about as the team capped off what was a very strong showing in Starkville.
Just 24 hours after earning their first win ever in the SEC Tournament over No. 15 Georgia, Ole Miss (39-20) gave No. 1 Florida all it could handle, falling in a heartbreaker despite going four innings without a run allowed.
Senior pitcher Madi Osias, who’s been the anchor in the circle all season, was again effective Thursday, shutting out the two-time defending national champions for a majority of the contest.
After the contest got underway at 4:35 p.m. CT, thunderstorms moved into the area forcing a delay at 5:18 p.m. After a wait of more than three plus hours, the two teams finally resumed past 8 p.m. local time in the third inning.
Both teams went scoreless in the first through fourth, but it was the fifth that looked to be promising for the Rebels, and ended up being the frame that was all the difference in favor of the home team.
Kylan Becker got Ole Miss’ only hit to leadoff the fifth off a single through the left side, before Courtney Syrett moved her to second on a sacrifice bunt. When Dakota Matiko drew her ball four to walk, Becker moved to third on the wild pitch setting the tables for Grayce Majam. But, a hard-hit line drive off Majam’s bat went right to the shortstop, and the ensuing throw went to first for the double play, thwarting what was a potential offensive inning for the Rebels.
In the next half, Florida got it going when Stewart doubled to left center and moved to third on an error. After two-straight walks, Osias worked a big strikeout to Amanda Lorenz, before a passed ball put the runners in motion. After the ball trickled to the backstop, Syrett picked it up, fired to Osias, who just missed the tag scoring the only run of the contest.
Osias finished her final SEC Tournament with arguably the best line of the week thus far, going 13 innings in two complete games with seven walks, seven strikeouts and just one earned run allowed to two of the nation’s top offenses.
On Deck
The Rebels will now wait for Sunday’s NCAA Softball selection show, where they will learn of their postseason fate.
For all Ole Miss Softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16. Additionally fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
Lunderman Named a Top-10 Finalist for National Freshman of the Year
Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss softball shortstop Hailey Lunderman has been named a top-10 finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year, the NFCA announced Thursday.
Lunderman, a recent All-Freshman SEC selection, has been arguably one of the top freshmen in the nation all season, flashing both the leather on the infield, and leading the team and conference in hitting in her first season of collegiate softball.
The Philadelphia, Mississippi native has led the offense all season with a single-season record 73 hits through 58 games, batting at a .378 clip with 40 runs scored. She’s driven in 16 runs and stolen 19 bases, leading the Rebels with 24 multi-hit games all season.
Lunderman is the only Ole Miss player to start in all 58 games, and is the only shortstop on the top-10 finalist lists for the Freshman of the Year honor.
She joins three other players from the SEC on the list including Florida’s Kelly Barnhill and Amanda Lorenz, and Texas A&M’s Keeli Milligan.
The NFCA Top-3 Finalists will be released on Wednesday, May 25, with the winner being announced Tuesday, May 31.
Lunderman and the Rebels, a day after winning their first-ever SEC Tournament game, will take on No. 1 Florida in the quarterfinals Thursday at 4 p.m. at Nusz Park in Starkville.
| Name | School | Position |
| Kelly Barnhill | Florida | P |
| Taty Forbes | Coastal Carolina | OF |
| Kelsey Horton | New Mexico State | 1B |
| Brianna Jones | Southern Illinois | P |
| Shay Knighton | Oklahoma | IF |
| Amanda Lorenz | Florida | OF |
| Hailey Lunderman | Ole Miss | SS |
| Keeli Milligan | Texas A&M | IF/OF |
| Claire Oberdorf | Marist | 2B/C |
| Ali Wester | Notre Dame | OF/IF |
For all Ole Miss Softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16. Additionally fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
Ole Miss Men and Women in Second Place after Day One at SEC Outdoors
@olemisspix
On an eventful first day of the 2016 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Ole Miss came out strong and finished Thursday in second place in both the men’s and women’s team standings.
A lengthy weather delay that included a full array of sideways rain, lightning and thunder was followed by a 20-minute power outage that stopped both the men’s 10,000-meter race and hammer throw in the middle of those events. All of which caused the competition to run well past midnight and into the wee hours of Friday morning.
But the Ole Miss athletes were not deterred, as the women came up with 11 points and the men 13 points through two events for each gender.
Sophomore Emily Bean ran a superb race en route to a silver medal in the women’s 10,000 meters, clocking a time of 34:08.16. The Louisville, Kentucky, native scored eight points for the Rebels and became the first SEC scorer in the 10K in the history of the Ole Miss women’s program.
Sophomore Raven Saunders earned the first team points of the weekend for the Ole Miss women, grabbing three points with a sixth-place finish in the hammer throw. She uncorked a personal best of 57.97m/190-2 that ranks her No. 2 in school history. The Charleston, South Carolina native, who will also compete in the shot put and discus this weekend, is the first Rebel to score points in the SEC women’s hammer throw since Juliana Smith was runner-up in 2011.
For the men, sophomore Dempsey McGuigan was in second place for most of the hammer throw final before settling for third with a heave of 68.55m/224-11. It was the second straight medalist performance for the London, U.K., native, who was runner-up at last year’s SEC outdoor meet. Junior Kevin Conway finished 10th, one spot out of the final, after a personal-best throw of 62.63m/205-5.
Ole Miss had two scorers in the wild and wacky men’s 10,000 meters, which had to be stopped after about four laps when the power went out at the Sam Bailey Track & Field Stadium, and then re-started 30 minutes later. It took gutsy efforts by all of the SEC men to come back ready after the delay, and senior Ryan Walling ran to a fourth-place finish in a personal-best 29:52.82, followed by junior Wesley Gallagher in seventh place in 30:09.80. The duo garnered seven team points.
Senior Dameon Morgan came through in a big way in the 800-meter prelims, qualifying with the third-fastest time of the day, 1:47.55. It was a significant personal best for the St. Louis native and moved him to No. 5 in the school record books. He came into the SEC Championships with a previous best of 1:48.88 from last year.
Other personal bests on Thursday included senior Khadijah Suleman in the women’s 200 meters (23.26), senior Taylor Corder in the women’s 800 meters (2:08.24) and sophomore Katherine MacNeal in the women’s 10,000 meters (36:03.63).
After the first day of the men’s decathlon, junior Peyton Moss sits in 14th place with 3,458 points. Over the first five events, he posted a personal best in the 400 meters (51.15) and season bests in the 100 (11.47), long jump (6.31m/20-8.5) and high jump (1.87m/6-1.5). The second day of the decathlon will include the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500 meters.
Friday’s competition will include the completion of the multi events, as well as finals in the men’s and women’s long jump, men’s and women’s shot put and men’s and women’s 3000-meter steeplechase. Prelims include the 1500 meters, 400 meters and 100 meters.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissTrack, as well as Facebook and Instagram.
TEAM STANDINGS AFTER DAY ONE
MEN
1. Alabama – 15
2. Ole Miss – 13
3. Georgia – 12
4. Arkansas – 10
4. Florida – 10
4. Kentucky – 10
7. Tennessee – 4
8. LSU – 3
9. Texas A&M – 1
WOMEN
1. Georgia – 12
2. Ole Miss – 11
3. Kentucky – 10
3. Tennessee – 10
5. Missouri – 8
6. Alabama – 6
6. Arkansas – 6
8. Auburn – 5
8. Florida – 5
8. Texas A&M – 5
THURSDAY AGATE
MEN
200 Meter Prelims
23. Darryl Brown – 21.10
800 Meter Prelims
3. Dameon Morgan – 1:47.55Q (PR)
17. Holland Sherrer – 1:52.55
10,000 Meters
4. Ryan Walling – 29:52.82 (PR) (5 points)
7. Wesley Gallagher – 30:09.80 (2 points)
10. Mark Robertson – 30:21.90
Hammer Throw
3. Dempsey McGuigan – 68.55m/224-11 (6 points)
10. Kevin Conway – 62.63m/205-5 (PR)
17. Nathan Loe – 58.70m/192-7
WOMEN
200 Meter Prelims
16. Khadijah Suleman – 23.26 (PR)
24. Shannon Ray – 23.71
26. Nicole Henderson – 23.76
28. Breanna Tate – 23.89
800 Meter Prelims
12. Taylor Corder – 2:08.24 (PR)
14. Leanne Zimmer – 2:09.14
16. Maddie McHugh – 2:10.22
10,000 Meters
2. Emily Bean – 34:08.16 (8 points)
11. Mary Alex England – 35:55.72
13. Katherine MacNeal – 36:03.63 (PR)
Hammer Throw
6. Raven Saunders – 57.97m/190-2 (PR) (3 points)
12. Annika Larsson – 53.29m/174-10
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
Road to Tulsa Begins Saturday for Ole Miss
For the 23rd straight year, the Ole Miss men’s tennis team is among the field of 64 teams vying for a national championship.
A challenging task awaits the 27th-ranked Rebels in Berkeley, California this weekend, as they seek to be one of 16 teams to continue the journey on the road to Tulsa, Oklahoma, site of the Final 16.
The Rebels will face Denver in the first round Saturday at 11 a.m. CT at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The host California will meet Army with the winners of both matches playing Sunday at 3 p.m. for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.
Ole Miss (15-10), a mostly young team, will look to a pair of All-SEC honorees to lead the team in sophomore Gustav Hansson and senior Stefan Lindmark. Hansson made the first team and earned a bid to the NCAA Singles Championships. Lindmark earned second team honors and is a second alternate in NCAA singles.
25 and Counting…
Ole Miss earned its 25th overall and 23rd consecutive NCAA bid. The Rebels first made the NCAA Championships in 1989 and then again in 1992. They began their climb toward the top in 1994, with their third NCAA appearance and have been to the NCAAs every year since. In fact, the Rebels own the fifth longest consecutive NCAA appearance streak.
Rebels at NCAA Championships…
The Rebels own a 49-24 overall record in NCAA competition. They have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen 16 times, the Elite Eight nine times, four Final Fours and the Final in 1995.
Two for Two…
Ole Miss is one of 36 schools to have both its men’s and women’s tennis teams in the NCAA Championships. The women earned their eighth consecutive NCAA bid and are in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to face Northwestern in the first round Friday at 9 a.m. CT. The winner will meet ETSU/North Carolina in the championship match Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
Scouting Denver…
Denver (18-7) won its third consecutive Summit League title to earn a fourth straight NCAA bid. The Pioneers are led by Summit League Player of the Year, junior Diogo Rocha, who owns a 12-4 record at No. 2 singles and 4-2 at No. 1. Senior Henry Craig is 13-5 at No. 1 singles. Craig, who was named the ITA Mountain Region Senior Player of the Year, teams up with Alex Gasson for a No. 51 ranking in doubles. Denver will be facing its fourth straight SEC opponent in the NCAA first round. In 2013, the Pioneers knocked of then-No. 15 Florida in Gainesville 4-3, and last year they nearly upset then-No. 20 Mississippi State in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, before losing 4-3.
The Winner Gets…
The winner of the Ole Miss/Denver match will face the winner of the Army/California match Sunday at 3 p.m. CT for the right to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
California (17-6) earned the No. 13 seed overall in the NCAA Championships and will face Army in the first round. The Golden Bears reached the Pac-12 final losing to UCLA 4-1 and earned their 17th straight bid to the NCAAs. Cal has five players in the singles rankings led by Florian Lakat at No. 30 and Andre Goransson at No. 31. Lakat is 17-10 and Goransson is 22-12 in singles. In doubles, the Golden Bears are led by ninth-ranked Lakat and Filip Bergevi.
Army (18-8) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships upon winning the Patriot League Championship. It marks the seventh NCAA appearance and first since 2014 for the Cadets. They are led by the Patriot League Freshman of the Year, David Mitchell.
Quoting head coach Toby Hansson…
“We are excited to still be playing tennis this time of year and represent the SEC and this great university in the NCAA Championships. This is what you work for all year. The guys are excited to be finished with school for the year and are focused on the match against Denver. We can’t wait to get started.”
Senior captain Stefan Lindmark…
“We’re very excited to be done with classes and exams and happy to be in California. We have shown this year that when we play well, we can beat anyone. It’s my last NCAA Championships, and I am ready to make the most of this opportunity.”
For more information on Ole Miss Men’s Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis, follow Coach Hansson on Twitter at @TennisToby.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
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