Ole Miss Softball suffered three losses against then-No. 4 Oklahoma in Oxford from Saturday, March 21 to Monday, March 23. They also played LA Tech and UAB in two decisive midweek victories.
LA Tech
The Rebels took a 5-1 win over LA Tech at home on Wednesday, March 18.
Emilee Boyer struck out four consecutive batters to begin the game, the Rebels came out hot in the second inning with a Cassie Reasner double and home run from Taylor Roman to take a 2-0 lead.
Kennedy Bunker launched a leadoff solo home run in the third to put the Rebels up 3-0, and Madi George joined the party, launching one over the wall for her ninth home run of the season to make it 5-0.
Boyer finished the game with nine strike outs to seal the win.
Game one vs Oklahoma
The Rebels fell 10-0 to the Sooners to open the series. Kyra Aycock took to the circle for the Rebels in game one. She allowed a run after a collision at second base in the second inning, then she held the Sooners to a scoreless third
After that, however, things got out of hand. The Sooners went up 5-0 in the top of the fifth inning and scored five additional runs in the sixth.
Game two vs Oklahoma
The Rebels allowed four runs in the top of the first, and never recovered from the deficit. The Sooners added another two runs in the second before Reasner led off with a solo home run in the bottom of the second to make the score 6-1.
The Sooners increased their lead to 8-1 in the third inning with a two-run home run and accumulated a 14-1 lead after the fourth.
For the fifth inning, relief pitcher Lilly Whitten entered the circle, claiming three strike outs, and the Rebels were able to gain a run back in the bottom of the fifth when pinch hitter Rachel Connors hit a double and Taylor Malvin walked.
Ryan Starr advanced to third base off a fielder’s choice before Mackenzie Pickens drove her home with a sacrifice fly. The Sooners ended the Rebel rally and sealed a 14-2 win.
Game three vs Oklahoma
The final game of the series resulted in a 5-2 Rebel loss after a hard fought contest.
Aycock opened the first inning with two strikeouts. She worked around an error and secured a third strikeout to end the inning. The Rebels scored two in the bottom of the second off two Sooner errors.
Oklahoma hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth to close the Rebel lead to 2-1; however, Aycock ended any further harm in the inning with two strikeouts.
Despite another Aycock strikeout in the top of the sixth, the Sooners rallied with a grand slam from pinch hitter Isabela Emerling to claim a 5-2 lead.
The Rebels responded with two singles and loaded the bases after a Sooner error with just one out. Oklahoma ended the inning with two strikeouts from Audrey Lowry to extinguish the rally and secure the win in the seventh inning.
Aycock finished the game with a season-high seven strikeouts.
UAB
The Rebels rebounded after the Oklahoma series with an 11-0, run rule victory over UAB on Wednesday, March 25. They scored five in the second, two in the third and four in the fourth.
Boyer allowed just one hit in three innings and Whitten was perfect in two frames.
Pickens and Reasner had multi-hit games. Connors hit the first home run of her collegiate career in the form of a 3-run shot to make it 11-0.
What’s next?
Ole Miss Softball is back in action on Friday, March 27 at 5 p.m. SEC Network+ will broadcast the game.
