HottyToddy.com’s Daily Ole Miss Sports Roundup

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Today’s roundup features Ole Miss Sports Information.

Ole Miss Drops Extra-Inning Affair at Mississippi State

Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss softball dropped a heartbreaker in game two of the series at Mississippi State Sunday night, as the Bulldogs walked off in a 1-0 win at Nusz Park.

The Rebels kept the Bulldogs in check the majority of the night, only allowing two hits in the regulation seven innings.

But, after sophomore Kayla Landwehrmier replaced starter Madi Osias in the circle to begin the eighth, the Bulldogs (21-14, 2-6 SEC) got a leadoff single, then after a bunt to move the runner, scored the game-winner off a ground ball that rolled through the left side.

Osias got the no decision after allowing just two hits in seven innings, striking out four with four walks. Landwehrmier dropped to 2-2 on the year with one run allowed off two hits.

Offensively the Rebels strung together six hits with one each from Elantra Cox, Hailey Lunderman, Miranda Strother, Natalie Martinez, Courtney Syrett and Ashton Lampton.

The Rebels (27-10, 3-5 SEC) left just five on base, but gave away potentially the biggest frame of the game in the first when the bases were left loaded.

Ole Miss went on to strand runners in the third, fifth and sixth innings, as Mississippi State starter Alexis Silkwood went the distance with five strikeouts and no walks.

On Deck
The Rebels and Bulldogs return to Nusz Park Monday night at 6 p.m. for the series finale in the SEC’s Game of the Week, which will air live on SEC Network.

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

Rebels Finish Second in Rebel Intercollegiate

Katie Voll
Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics.

The Ole Miss women’s golf team posted their best finish of the spring season Sunday, placing second at their home event at the Ole Miss Golf Course. This is the second time Ole Miss has claimed runner-up honors, doing the same in 2009 with former Ole Miss women’s golfer Dori Carter earning medalist honors.

Troy’s Fatima Cano claimed medalist honors while Murray State’s Moa Folke was named runner-up. The two scored 73-70-66—209 and 71-68-75—214 respectively.

For the Rebels, it’s a big boost before headed to the SEC Women’s Golf Championship in two weeks.

“Today was a lot of fun,” head coach Kory Henkes said. “It’s the best round we’ve had since the fall, shooting 2-under as a team so I was really proud of how we fought back. We were a few shots back going into today so a second place finish is something for the team to be proud of. It should give us a little bit of momentum going into the SEC Championship.”

Senior Alison Hovatter (Meridianville, Ala.) led the way for the Red and Blue in the final round, firing a 4-under par 68 and finishing in a tie for sixth. Several low numbers, including five birdies and a 4-under par back nine, highlighted her round.

“It was good seeing Ali, being a senior, shooting a 68,” Henkes said. “Same thing with Abby (Newton) shooting a 71. It was huge to have that leadership from them to get the team going today.”

“It was really special,” Hovatter added. “I knew I just wanted to go out there today and give it everything I had for my team and this university. I feel like I did that today. I was 1-over after six and Coach Drew (Belt) came to me and told me to putt like I’m going to make everything. I did that and it changed my mentality from that point on. I felt like I could make any put I looked at from that point on.”

Junior Madisen Bentley (University Place, Wash,) and Maria Toennessen (Grimstad, Norway) also finished in the top-20. Bentley carded a 16th place 79-72-72—223 while Toennessen posted an 18th-place finish 72-74-79—225.

The Rebels are back at it in two weeks when they play at the SEC Women’s Golf Championship in Birmingham, Ala.

Rebel Intercollegiate Tournament Notes

Winner: Troy (297-282-292—871)

Runner Up: Ole Miss (303-299-286—888)

Medalist: Fatima Cano, Troy (73-70-66—209)

Runner Up: Moa Folke, Murray State (71-68-75 –214)

-Troy’s 54-hole score of 871 is tied for fifth lowest at the Rebel Intercollegiate

-There are four first-time participants to the Rebel Intercollegiate. James Madison, Troy, Western Carolina and Yale are all first time participants to the Ole Miss Rebel Intercollegiate. Murray State and Memphis have participated in each year of the Rebels Intercollegiate.

-Fatima Cano’s third round score of 66 was tied for the lowest round in tournament history and her 209 54-hole score is second lowest trailing just Missouri’s Julia Potter who had a 208 in 2010.

-Troy’s two-round score of 579 is the fourth lowest 36-hole score in tournament history. Tennessee holds the 36-hole low with a 569 set at the 2011 tournament.

-Murray State’s Moa Folke’s 36 hole score of 139 is tied for the fifth lowest 36-hole score.

-Fatima Cano’s third round score of 66 was tied for the lowest round in tournament history and her 209 54-hole score is second lowest trailing Missouri’s Julia Potter who had a 208 in 2010.

For all Ole Miss women’s golf news and information, go to OleMissSports.com, and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWGolf and Facebook at Ole Miss Women’s Golf. Fans can also follow head coach Kory Henkes on Twitter at @KoryThompson1.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Rebels Drop Tight 4-3 Match to Alabama

Photo courtesy of Kevin Bain

The Ole Miss men’s tennis team dropped the doubles point to Alabama and fell behind 3-0 but rallied to get within one, before coming up just short in the end, 4-3, Sunday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

With the Tide leading 3-2 and Ole Miss up at six, Matthew Roussow finished off a comeback win against Rebel junior Ricardo Jorge at No. 5 singles to clinch the 4-3 win. Jorge raced past Roussow to win the first set 6-0, and served 3-1, but Roussow broke back and went on to win the second set 7-5. Roussow won a deciding point at 3-4 on his serve to hold and then broke Jorge at 5-5 and served it out.

Roussow broke Jorge to start the third and later gave it back for 4-4.  Jorge lost his serve again and Roussow served for it at 5-4. Jorge had multiple chances to break back at 15-40, but Roussow hit two great first serves and then an ace on match point.

Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton continued their great play at No. 2 doubles winning 6-2, but Alabama earned a pair of wins at three and one to secure the opening point.

The Crimson Tide put the Rebels in a hole with two straight-set wins on courts three and one. Hamilton fell to Becker O’Shaughnessey 6-2, 6-4 and then Stefan Lindmark went down to 43rd-ranked Mazen Osama 6-2, 6-3 at one.

The Rebels began their comeback as Gustav Hansson finished off a straight-set win, 6-4, 6-3, against Bama’s Korey Lovett at No. 2 singles. Fallert overcame a late break in the second set to win a tiebreaker for a 6-2, 7-6(3) win on court four, putting the Rebels within one.

Zvonimir Babic was serving for his match at six when Bama clinched. He ended up completing the rally, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Notables…
• Ole Miss falls to 8-8 overall, 3-6 in the SEC.
• Gustav Hansson improved to 20-8 overall, 12-4 in dual matches. He is 7-2 in the SEC.
• Grey Hamilton and Fabian Fallert improved to 13-4 overall, 11-3 in dual matches and 7-1 in the SEC.
• Zvonimir Babic improved to 4-1 in dual matches, 3-1 in the SEC.

Quoting Head Coach Toby Hansson…
“We were a little flat in doubles. We weren’t as sharp as I’ve seen us. We were not timing the ball right on the returns. We weren’t able to handle the situation when we started losing. In singles, we were battling in every match. It was a game of inches today, and they came up with the inch. They deserve to win the match.”

On Stefan’s match…
“He didn’t play his best, but he had a chance to get back in the second set with break points at 3-5. If Stefan gets that point and then he’s serving, we are back in that match.”

On handling dropping tight games…
Gus lost a couple of no-ad points early in the second set, but did a good job of handling that situation and moving forward. As a team we need to do a better job of playing the next point and getting excited for the next point. We need to address that and get better at it. If we do those things, than I am confident we’re going to get back on track.”

On Fabian and Ricky’s matches…
“Nice to see Fabi close that tiebreaker out. He’s lost a lot of tough matches. It’s always nice when you can win a tight set and close out a match. Ricky was inches away from getting back on track for 5-5. So many close points there, but the other guy took his chances and played a little unorthodox. He kind of threw Ricky off his rhythm a little bit. We were up a break in the second set, and the other guy started playing a little better, he started serving better. Ricky got off his game a little and perhaps started protecting his lead a little unconsciously. In the end, it was 15-40, and Matthew hit three first serves in the court and finished off with an ace.”

Up next…
The Rebels will host Alcorn State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 10 a.m., Thursday.

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

Two School Records, Fast Times Highlight Ole Miss Track’s Weekend

Craig Engels
Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics.

A pair of school records and some of the nation’s fastest times in a few events highlighted the Ole Miss Rebels’ weekend of competition at the Pepsi Florida Relays and Stanford Invitational.

In a weekend at two of the most prestigious and well-attended meets in the country, Ole Miss athletes compiled the two school records, four top-two individual finishes and 18 outdoor personal bests. Many of the Rebels’ times run this weekend will rank among the top 25 or 30 in the nation.

“The trips to Florida and California were both very successful,” head coach Connie Price-Smith said. “I was very pleased with the outcome of the competitions. School records and personal bests are always exciting to see. I think the men and women are doing a great job and progressing nicely.”

It was quite an outdoor season debut for sophomore Craig Engels and junior Trevor Gilley in the Florida Relays 1500 meters on Friday. Engels placed runner-up in 3:38.82, breaking his own school record of 3:40.28 from last year. His time ranks him No. 2 in the NCAA this year and would have been the second-best time in the country for all of last season. Gilley placed third in a personal-best 3:41.77, ranking him No. 2 in school history and No. 3 in the NCAA this year. Sophomore Derek Gutierrez also ran a personal-best time of 3:47.07.

Over at Stanford, the three Rebels in the women’s 10,000 meters all came away with personal-best times that were better than the previous school record, led by sophomore Emily Bean’s 33.39.36. Junior Mary Alex England, who previously claimed the school record, ran 33:47.91, while sophomore Shelby Brown checked in at 34:41.08. No Ole Miss woman had ever broken 34 minutes in the 10K before this weekend.

The Rebel men’s hammer throwers showed off their strength in the Florida sun. In the invite section, sophomore Dempsey McGuigan earned seventh place with a mark of 68.00m/223-1, just off his school record of 223-7. In the college division, senior Nathan Loe was runner-up with a personal-best heave of 65.41m/214-7 that continues to rank him No. 2 in school history and should move him up into the top 20 or so nationally this season.

In the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase, sophomore MJ Erb made his Ole Miss debut in the event with a time of 9:00.27 that ranks him No. 5 in the school record books. Sophomores Brandon Harvey (9:19.89 – No. 9 in school history) and Abraham Merinar (9:38.31) both clocked personal bests in the event.

The Stanford Invitational saw junior Wesley Gallagher clock a personal-best time of 29:13.67 that ranks him No. 3 in school history and among the nation’s leaders early this outdoor season.

The Ole Miss women had a number of strong performances throughout the weekend in Florida to add to the fantastic 10,000-meter performance at Stanford.

Sophomore Raven Saunders took the event title in the women’s shot put invite with a winning mark of 17.26m/56-7.5.

The 4×100-meter relay squad of Nicole Henderson, Shannon Ray, Breanna Tate and Khadijah Suleman raced to sixth place in a season-best 44.03 that ranks them 12th in the NCAA this year.

In the 4×400-meter relay, the Rebels’ squad of Kiannah Alexander, Jolie Carbo, Mercedes Mattix and Deanna Tatefinished fifth in the college division in a season-best 3:39.72.

Sophomore Lindsey Murray finished runner-up in the pole vault with a height of 4.20m/13-9.25 that matched her season best and is a half-inch shy of the school record. She entered the weekend ranked 11th nationally in the event.

Senior McKenna Coughlin placed sixth in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 10:36.70 that moves her up from fourth to third in the school record books. She came into the weekend ranked 17th nationally in the event.

Junior Breanna Tate ran a personal-best 23.43 to finish 14th in the open 200 meters. It was her second straight weekend with a career-best time in the event and moves her up to No. 5 in school history.

Sophomore Shannon Ray ran a season-best 11.52 in the 100 meters for 21st place.

Sophomore Leanne Zimmer clocked an outdoor personal-best time of 2:10.10 in the 800 meters, while the women’s 1500 meter runners had solid days, including Britt Ummels (4:26.24, 15th place), Bo Ummels (4:27.70, 19th place) and Anna Braswell (PR 4:30.67, 26th place).

For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissTrack, as well as Facebook and Instagram.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

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