After having the team’s opening series cut short because of rain, Ole Miss softball took to sunny Mexico for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge over the weekend and took the tournament by storm.
In the first matchup of the weekend, the No. 15 Rebels took on the Texas Longhorns in a must-win momentum builder. With Kaitlin Lee back in the circle, the Rebel bats were able to play offensively from the get-go, knowing that their ace would keep the opponent’s door shut on defense.
The Rebels did just that. Kylan Becker singled sharply up the middle, and three straight walks saw Ole Miss jump out to a one-run lead in the first inning. After a quick bottom half, Ole Miss used small ball to add to its lead and never looked back. Scoring a run in six of the seven innings, Ole Miss won the opening game of the tournament 8-2 after Lee threw a scoreless first four innings and held the Longhorns to four hits.
However, day two did not go as smoothly. Squaring off against Houston, Ole Miss surrendered an early two-run lead and was unable to come back, falling 6-0. With Lee on the bench, Brittany Finney made the start and allowed three runs on six hits in only two innings. In her relief, Morgan Bruce gave up three runs on nine hits.
While the pitching struggled, the Rebel bats were unable to find their groove and couldn’t break the shutout despite multiple chances with runners in scoring position.
In the final day of the tournament, Ole Miss was able to refocus and picked up a pair of quality wins Saturday.
Jumping out to an early lead over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the morning game, the Rebels scored in each of the first three innings on the way to the first run-rule victory of the season, winning 9-1.
In the Rebel route, lefty freshman Anna Borgen stepped into the circle for the first time in red and blue and threw four scoreless innings, marking her first-ever collegiate win.
Saturday’s primetime tilt came against No. 3 Oregon, with Lee back in the circle to face the Ducks. In a game that remained scoreless through regulation, it was the senior ace’s time to shine once again.
After sitting down the first nine batters she faced, it was a single up the middle that broke up the no-hitter in the fourth. While Lee was in the zone, it was clear that Oregon’s Megan Kleist was prepared to match the heat coming from her opposition and retired the Rebels’ first 11 batters.
As the game continued, neither team was able to capitalize on the few opportunities it had to score runs, and the game extended into extra innings, still scoreless.
Neither team able to convert in the eighth, the ninth inning began with some hope for the Ducks, able to put two runners in scoring position. Lee quickly diminished any optimism and brought her team up to bat with another chance to win the game.
Following International Tiebreaker rules, Ole Miss’ Paige McKinney was placed on second base to begin the Rebel half, and Elantra Cox stepped in to the plate with one out. Slapping a single that would score McKinney, the walkoff, nine-inning, 1-0 victory would see the Rebels leave Mexico 3-1 on the weekend and 6-2 overall.
Ole Miss will play its first home tournament this weekend, kicking off the Red and Blue Classic on Friday against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at 3 p.m. and North Dakota State at 5:30 p.m.
