2025 Division II Player of the Year Emilee Boyer
Jamie Trachsel has a philosophy: Prove it on the field. And that will certainly come into play with her pitching staff this season.
The Rebels, ranked as high as No. 14 in the national preseason polls, are coming off the best season in school history. Last year, Ole Miss assembled a record of 42-21 and ended the year at the ultimate destination, the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
This season, much like last year, the Ole Miss head coach has to assemble a practically brand-new pitching staff. The newcomers to the pitching staff come heavily from the transfer portal. They include Hope Jenkins (UConn), Lilly Whitten (Missouri), Kyra Aycock (Oklahoma State) and Emilee Boyer (West Texas A&M).
“It’s just their maturity,” said Trachsel. “I think that’s the one thing where we’ve had a lot of success with our transfers, particularly experienced transfers in terms of training, how they attack and approach and handle the training aspect of it. The bullpen is eager to learn. It’s a space they feel comfortable in…
“We were in a similar boat last year a little bit, which is having a lot of new faces…We only had three pitchers returning, so we had some similarity at just learning new pitchers, new personalities and what they are capable of doing and then how do we use them together to put them in situations to be successful.”
Ole Miss opens its 2026 season on Feb. 5, at the Easton Classic in Fullerton Calif. The Rebels open with a doubleheader versus Cal State Fullerton and will also tangle with Boise State and Cal State Northridge at the tournament. Ole Miss will play its first 10 games away from the friendly confines of Oxford.
THE NANCY EVANS IMPACT
Pitching coach Nancy Evans, a softball legend, proved last year that the Ole Miss pitchers are in good hands.
“One thing Nancy does really well, and kind of throughout her career as a pitching coach, is pitch calling. There is a developmental side. There is the mentality and approach side. I think Nancy does that exceptionally well.
“The other thing is we have pitchers who hit, so we’re familiar with how to balance that load. Emille (Boyer) hits, Hope (Jenkins) hits…Knowing how to utilize that, how to communicate with the timing of that, we see Nancy being a two-way player when she played…A lot of confidence in the development and preparation and in-game pitch calling and communication.”
IN THE CIRCLE
Boyer and Jenkins are also in-the-field utility players with dangerous bats. They would likely play right field as their default positions.
Boyer finished her career at Division II West Texas A&M with a .360 batting average over 180 games and starts, hitting 54 home runs, 197 RBI, 22 doubles and 107 walks, while slugging .729 and recoding a .476 on-base-percentage. She was equally as lethal in the circle with a career record of 69-10 and a 2.39 ERA (454.2 IP), striking out 461 and tallying 31 complete games and 11 shutouts.
Boyer was the Division II national player of the year in 2025 at West Texas A&M. How has her talent transitioned up to Power 4 and SEC softball?
“You know, your stuff is your stuff,” related Trachsel. “She’s got great stuff, regardless of what division she’s pitching in…Her stuff translates very well.”
Jenkins was a two-way star at UConn. She compiled a 28-9 record in the circle, while assembling a 3.50 ERA (282.1 IP) and adding 213 strikeouts. She hit .279, while tallying 14 home runs and 67 RBI over 134 games played on the plate.
Aycock was a huge get out of the transfer portal. Coming from Oklahoma State, she has big-game experience, especially having pitched in the Women’s College World Series for the Cowgirls.
“Huge. Huge,” echoed Trachsel. “Just to see her grow. Obviously, we’re about to enter a new season, so there is a new challenge in front of her. She knows what it takes, She knows what the competition is…the highest level ofr being in a three-game season is, the postseason and being in the World Series multiple times. I think that experience, especially for a few of them, they brought in along with our returners is going to be really impactful.”
Granted, softball is an all-arms-on-deck sport, but has Trachsel seen enough yet to decide who will be the starters and who will be the relievers?
“I think they all do something a little bit different,” Trachsel said. “We kind of have an idea of what maybe that looks like, but we need to make sure everybody is healthy and good and that we use them the right way, too, whether they are a starter, early relief, late relief and what kind of role we out them in to help us win games.”
As for who gets the ball on Day 1 versus Cal State Fullerton?
“I think we’ll look at that as obviously game one to kick off the season, but also the day, because we play a doubleheader against Fullerton. We’re two weeks out and too early to be making a decision, but it is probably narrowed down to a couple of people. We’re really looking at the whole day. We’ll need our whole staff against Fullerton,” said Trachsel.