After being swept by the Texas A&M Aggies over the weekend, Ole Miss turned its attention to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles for its midweek home game on April 23.
Heading into the game, Ole Miss stood at 25-22 overall and 3-15 in the SEC, while the Golden Eagles stood at 20-23 overall and 8-10 in the Sun Belt Conference.
Late into the season, both teams sought to gain a much-needed win.
Ole Miss fell behind in the first inning on a single from USM shortstop Maria Smith. However, the Rebels answered back quickly with a hit from left fielder Jaden Pone, a sacrifice fly from first baseman Paige Smith and a home run from designated player Lexie Brady. The Rebels were up 3-1 at the conclusion of the first inning.
The Golden Eagles then tied it up in the top of the second inning off of an error from Smith.
From then on, the Lady Rebels and Lady Golden Eagles were in a stalemate, trading defensive inning for defensive inning. That was until the fourth inning when Ole Miss second baseman Agelina DeLeon, shortstop Ryan Starr and center fielder Jalia Lassiter rattled off hits to put the Lady Rebels in scoring position.
Lassiter’s hit, coupled with an obstruction call, resulted in two runs for Ole Miss — making the score 5-3 at the bottom of the fourth inning.
Southern Miss gave the Lady Rebels a scare by getting runners on the corners with only one out in the top of the sixth inning –– the only form of offensive success USM had garnered since early in the game. With Ole Miss being up by only two runs during this time, they did not have a big margin for error.
After a pitching change to put in left-handed pitcher Brianna Lopez, Ole Miss was able to get out of the jam without giving up any runs, leaving USM runners on base to close the inning.
The Lady Rebels got more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning off a two-run home run from DeLeon that upped the score to 7-3, effectively silencing any whispers of a USM comeback.
Despite having two errors that put them in sticky situations, Ole Miss was still able to take care of Southern Miss quite easily, which allowed them to go into the top of the seventh comfortably.
At the heart of it, this game was a defensive battle, but both teams amassed seven hits to supplement their respective offenses; however, the Lady Rebels got more use out of them.
Ole Miss held onto its 7-3 lead at the conclusion of the seventh inning, reaching its 26th win of the season before heading into this weekend’s SEC series.
What’s next?
Ole Miss will stay at home, hosting the Auburn Tigers for a three-game series from April 26-28. The first game will begin at 5 p.m. Friday. SEC Network will broadcast the game.
