UK softball travels to Oxford, Miss., Wednesday to play a doubleheader against an Ole Miss squad that is currently on a six-game skid.

Four of the games lost by Ole Miss during its six-game losing streak were by five or more runs.

Despite its recent struggles and having a conference-worst 16-24 record, UK head coach Rachel Lawson spoke highly of the Rebels.

“This is the best season they’ve had in a few years,” she said. “They have dominant pitching. They throw the ball well.”

Senior Kendall Bruning handles the brunt of their pitching. So far this season she holds a 12-12 record in 29 appearances and 149.2 innings of action.

Bruning’s innings more than double those of junior Erinn Jayjohn, who has 65.2 innings of work.

Though Bruning has struggled this season, her 111 strikeouts rank second only to UK senior Chanda Bell’s 141.

Lawson also acknowledged the production of Ole Miss’ offense, which is led by sophomore RT Cantillo.

“They’re doing a good job of creating on offense,” Lawson said. “They’re a real scrappy team.”

Cantillo’s .365 batting average leads a team that also has two other .300+ batters in sophomore Londen Ladner (.333) and senior Corrine Doornberg (.316).

In comparison with UK, the Rebels have four batters with higher averages at the plate than all but one of UK’s batters.

And that one batter is junior Kara Dill. Dill leads both teams in average (.379), hits (58), total bases (79), at-bats (153), doubles (10) and triples (4).

The Rebels hold a 26-14 advantage over UK all-time, but since Lawson arrived to Lexington, the Cats lead the series 6-3.

The opening game of UK’s doubleheader begins at 5 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday. Game two will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one, and it is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern time.