This weekend, April 12-14, Ole Miss Softball got a break from conference games with a three-game series against the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers. After three straight SEC series losses, Ole Miss caught a mid-season lull from all the chaos the conference has to offer. This WKU series provided the team with some much-needed confidence going forward.
The series was not all sunshine and rainbows, though most of it was. Game one hit the Lady Rebels in the mouth, as WKU stole one in Oxford. However, games two and three favored the Rebels, with Ole Miss scoring in double figures while also holding the Hilltoppers to a combined six runs over the last two games.
Game one (lost 0-3)
Ole Miss simply could not pull through in this game, which resulted in them dropping the series opener. A lot of their season-long struggles were amplified in this game — Ole Miss could not get its offense going, and the defense let up in key moments.
The Rebels allowed three runs from the Hilltoppers in the first inning, and this was the only offense that happened in the game. Two of those runs were from an error and stealing home base.
The WKU Hilltoppers had Ole Miss figured out when the Rebels were at-bat. Anything Ole Miss tried failed almost immediately. The Rebels only had three hits, which did not give them much of a chance to score.
Game two (won 11-3)
Despite the final score, the Rebels’ game one struggles rolled over into the first couple of innings of game two. Western Kentucky made every attempt possible to stymie Ole Miss yet again, and it looked like they might be successful when things got started and WKU jumped out 1-0.
However, the Rebels fired straight back with a grand slam from designated player Aynslie Furbush in the bottom of the first inning. This put the Rebels up 4-1.
Ole Miss continued its scoring streak in the bottom of the second inning with two more runs. They also had back-to-back triples from shortstop Ryan Starr and centerfielder Jalia Lassiter. Western Kentucky scored again in the top of the fourth inning with two home runs, bringing the score to 6-3.
The Rebels took care of business by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, which put them up six runs and closer to causing a run rule in the game. Ole Miss ended up getting the run rule in the bottom of the sixth inning, tying the series with the Hilltoppers.
Game three (won 12-3)
Ole Miss started out strong with another grand slam from Furbush. This put the Rebels up 4-0 early after the Hilltoppers failed to score in the first inning.
Western Kentucky made a futile attempt to bring themselves back into the fold with a run at the top of the third inning.
Building off of their first inning dominance, Ole Miss shut WKU down pretty quickly, as the Rebels had two runs in the fourth inning and six runs in the fifth inning. This caused them to run-rule the game again.
The latter half of this series worked in Ole Miss’ favor, allowing the Lady Rebels to notch two wins in the win column before making their way back into conference play. Now, more non-conference games await Ole Miss in the mid-week time slots.
What’s next?
Ole Miss will travel to Ruston, La., to finally take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in a double-header. This game will be on Tuesday, April 16, with the first game starting at 3 p.m.
