2017 University Regional Preview
For the first time, Ole Miss is hosting a regional. The Rebels welcome Arizona State (30-20), North Carolina (38-19) and Southern Illinois (33-22) this weekend. The Sun Devils and Tar Heels will kick off the weekend on Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN followed by Ole Miss and SIU at 8:30 on ESPN3.
Top Seed
The Rebels are coming off a SEC Tournament Championship run that included wins over Mississippi State, Florida, Alabama and LSU. Against teams in the regional, Ole Miss is 2-5 overall against SIU, 0-3 against ASU and 0-2 against UNC. Kaitlin Lee is the spark that lights the Ole Miss fire. She went 4-0 in the SEC tournament with four complete games, three runs allowed, 19 hits, 12 strikeouts, one walk, one shutout and 28 innings pitched. The offense is a steady dose of small ball that starts with Elantra Cox who finished the regular season with a batting average over .400.
Best Shot at the Upset
The North Carolina Tar Heels finished in a tie for third in the ACC regular season and fell 4-3 to Florida State in the ACC Championship game. UNC has faced ASU six times in program history and is 0-6 against the Sun Devils. This will be the first time the two will meet in the postseason. Against SIU, the Tar Heels lost a 3-2 game back in 2007. Kendra Lynch leads the Tar Heels offense into Oxford with a .385 average, 21 home runs and 65 RBI. Katie Balliff and Taylor Wike each have 46 and 42 RBI of their own. Brittany Pickett has been the ace in the circle with a 21-7 record and 2.60 ERA. She’s appeared in 46 games and has pitched 201.2 innings.
Players to Watch
In addition to Lee, Cox, Lynch, Balliff, Wike and Pickett, keep an eye on are ASU’s Chelsea Gonzales and Breanna Macha and SIU’s Shaye Harre and Brianna Jones. Gonzales leads the Sun Devils in batting average (.348), runs scored (38), doubles (12), triples (2) and RBI (45). Macha has thrown the most innings for ASU (113.1) and is 12-8 with a 2.22 ERA. For the Salukis, Harre is hitting .348 with 48 hits, 18 doubles, 8 homers and 40 RBI. Her .652 slugging and .533 on-base percentages also lead the team. Jones has thrown 209 innings this season and is 18-12 with a 2.18 ERA. She has appeared in 40 games, started 25 and completed 21.
Prediction
It may appear that Ole Miss could actually be an underdog but that’s how they thrive. With that being said, Rebels are the pick out of this regional.
