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Memphis to face No. 22 Ole Miss in midweek matchup

<p>Kyler Trosclair-Klatt prepares to steal a base against Mississippi State. She&nbsp;<span>finished second on the team with a .394 batting average, the second-highest batting average in program history in the 2017 season.</span></p>
Kyler Trosclair-Klatt prepares to steal a base against Mississippi State. She finished second on the team with a .394 batting average, the second-highest batting average in program history in the 2017 season.

Memphis will take on No. 22 (at press time) Ole Miss at Tiger Softball complex Tuesday evening. This will be the second top-25 SEC opponent the Tigers have faced in less than a week.

Memphis went 3-1 during the weekend in the Tiger Classic. Their loss was 8-7 to Southeast Missouri State. 

The NCAA released the RPI rankings this week, and Memphis sits at 68. The Tigers finished at 96 last year. The Tigers are 19-7, their best start since 2011.

Memphis faced Ole Miss in the fall season and defeated the Rebels in a ten-inning game.

 

Areas of improvement

 

Molly Smith played well this weekend. In the loss against Mississippi State last week, she struggled to be consistent after the Bulldogs scored several runs in the fifth inning. Freshman Mariah Nichols ended up coming in the game to replace her.

The Tiger defense should step up in these tough games, too. Memphis had dropped balls and missed catches in last week’s midweek game against Mississippi State. Head coach Natalie Poole said that the defense relied too heavily on the pitchers to pitch outs.

 

 A look at the opponent

 

Ole Miss is 15-9 this season and 1-3 on the road. The Rebels are coming off a 1-0 shutout against No. 17 (at press time) South Carolina. 

Ole Miss has a .255 batting average heading into Tuesday’s game. They have five players with at least 16 hits this season.

Their pitchers have thrown a combined 95 strikeouts. They have only allowed opponents eight stolen bases this season. 

The Rebels and Tigers have a few common opponents. The Rebels faced Southern Illinois University Edwardsville twice in February. The Tigers beat SIUE in extra innings this weekend. The Tigers also faced Southeastern Louisiana and lost 2-8. The Rebels shut out the Lions 8-0 in six innings.

 

Players to watch

 

Ole Miss pitcher Kaitlin Lee 

Lee has started in 11 games and seen more time at the mound than any other Rebel pitcher. She has pitched 64 innings  and has a 2.56 ERA and a 9-4 record. She has pitched 33 strikeouts this season.

 

Ole Miss outfielder Elantra Cox

Cox has 24 hits this season, the most on the team. She has a batting average at .333. She has had two doubles, two triples and six RBIs this season. Cox leads the Rebels in stolen bases with nine for the season.

 

Memphis shortstop Kyler Trosclair Klatt

The senior is shining this season with a .444 batting percentage, the second highest of any senior. She has 40 hits, the highest of any Tiger this season. She also leads the Tigers with 25 RBIs and seven triples.

 

Memphis utility player Addison Maxwell

Maxwell led Memphis with seven hits this weekend. The Memphis native has raised her batting average to .351, the highest batting average of her career. Maxwell has 13 RBIs, two doubles and a triple this season. 

She has also played well on defense with a .867 fielding percentage. She has 15 catches and 13 put-outs total.

Kyler Trosclair-Klatt prepares to steal a base against Mississippi State. She finished second on the team with a .394 batting average, the second-highest batting average in program history in the 2017 season.

Addison Maxwell gets set to swing. The Collierville native has a .310 batting average and was named AAC player of the week.


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