The Ole Miss softball team kicks off its 2019 season in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 7 against the University of Central Florida Knights in the Friends of Jaclyn Tournament. The annual preseason poll of SEC coaches released earlier this month had the Rebels finishing 12th out of 13 teams in the conference.
After producing back-to-back 40-win seasons in 2016 and 2017 and winning a spot in the NCAA Super Regionals in the latter season, Ole Miss’s win total dipped down to 32 in 2018.
The Rebels have been overlooked in preseason SEC polls in previous years, however. They were picked to finish 10th in 2017, the same year that the team won the SEC Tournament championship and advanced to the Super Regionals, where they played the UCLA Bruins.
Despite the 12th place prediction, the Ole Miss softball program is ready to prove doubters wrong. In head coach Mike Smith’s four years at Ole Miss, he has yet to have a losing record and boasts a 146-92 mark. His success is a stark contrast to the 83-133 record the program earned in the four years prior to his arrival.
Unlike the 2017 season, however, the Rebels will be without their ace Kaitlin Lee. Lee started 32 games in 2018, making a total of 39 appearances for an 18-14 record. In her time on the mound, she posted an ERA of 2.49 with 84 strikeouts and just 37 walks.
Ole Miss will likely rely on sophomore Anna Borgen to fill the void left by Lee. Borgen appeared in 23 games last year, starting on the mound in 10 of those. Her numbers as a freshman indicate that she will play a big role in Ole Miss’s pitching rotation; she posted a 2.75 ERA with 32 strikeouts to just 11 walks.
Borgen will have some newcomers to help her out on the mound, too. During the off-season, Smith added talented pitching depth to the team by recruiting true freshman Savannah Diederich and junior college transfer Molly Jacobsen to play in the red and blue.
Additionally, top-100 national recruit Alyssa Pinto recently transferred from Oregon and will likely play outfield for the Rebels.
Other standout players to watch include pitcher and first baseman Brittany Finney, catcher Autumn Gillespie and outfielder fielder Kylan Becker, who was recently added to the Preseason All-SEC Team for the second consecutive year.
This is not the first time Becker’s been recognized for her talents. Last year, she became the first player in Ole Miss history to be selected to the United States National Team. She has also competed for the U.S. at the Japan All-Star Series in Tokyo. She joined Elantra Cox as the only players in Rebel history to be tabbed to the USA Softball Top-50 Player of the Year Watchlist. Becker became the second player in Ole Miss history, after Elantra Cox, to be selected to USA Softball’s Top 50 Watch List for USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year.
Becker, a senior from Miami, shone during the 2018 season and led the team with a .329 batting average and a .407 on-base percentage. She drew a team-high 19 walks and ranked second on the team with 29 runs and 6 doubles.
After their opening weekend, the Rebels will remain on the road for the first month of the season. Ole Miss’s home opener is set for March 1, when they will host Pittsburgh and Nicholls State at the Ole Miss Classic.
