No. 14 Ole Miss softball opens its season in less than a week. The Rebels will begin play at the Easton Classic on Feb. 5 in Fullerton, Calif., in a doubleheader versus Cal State Fullerton. The Rebels will also tangle with Boise State and Cal State Northridge in the season-opening tourney.
One area of concern for Ole Miss is who will handle the catching duties this season for a team that surprised everyone but themselves last year with the programs first ever berth in the Women’s College World Series.
Gone is slugger and handy backstop Lexie Brady. She hit .323 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs a season ago.
“There is a lot of competition back there,” said Ole Miss head coach Jamie Trachsel. “They all offer something different. They have different strengths. You have the defensive lens, you have the offensive lens, the combination of the two. There is a lot of opportunities.
“I don’t know that one kid is going to run away with it. I don’t see that. I think they earn it just by performance. There is going to be a couple of them to have the opportunity back there, just to see what they can do, how they handle things and who handles certain pitchers better than others.
“I’m a trust person, so I want to know who has great ball security, who we can trust to know what plays are on, who can control the game with certain pitchers. Then we have the running game and we have the offensive piece to balance. But trust is a big one for me. We’ll learn who we can trust in some of these big moments. It could be multiple.”
The primary suspects are transfer Makenna Bellaire and Kennedy Bunker, as well as sophomore Rachel Connors and freshman Madi Heine.
Bellaire, a transfer from the Florida Gators, She played in 13 games making five starts for Florida.
Bunker transferred to Ole Miss from Freson State where she earned second-team All Mountain West Conference honors last season after hitting .364 with a career-high 16 extra-base hits and 38 RBI over 57 starts in 2025. She helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2025 Mountain West championship game.
Rachel Connors
Connors hit .286 with a double and three RBIs in 2025.
“Rachel Connors was here and had some huge at-bats for us last year,” related Trachsel. “She went the entire year including postseason as our pinch-hitter. There was that kind of kid that you know what you’re going to get from every single day.”
Heinie, a true freshman, is a power hitter. She hit more than 30 home runs as a junior at West Forsyth (Ga.) High School.
The Feb, 5, doubleheader with Cal State Fullerton is set for a 7 p.m. CT start,