The Ole Miss softball team will welcome the Missouri Tigers to Oxford for a three-game weekend series starting Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.
The Rebels are in good shape with a 28-10 overall record and a 7-4 record in the tough SEC. The team was ranked No. 9 in the latest Softball America poll and holds a No. 12 RPI.
In their game Wednesday, the Rebels won a 3-2 nail-biter over UAB with a walk-off walk in extra innings. The Blazers scored 2 unearned runs with an RBI single from Destini England after an error in the first inning. Brittany Finney cut UAB’s lead in half in the fourth inning with an RBI single that brought Amanda Roth home.
The Rebels tied the game up in the sixth. With Finney on first and Autumn Gillespie on second, Tate Whitley hit a pitch deep enough for both runners to tag up and advance. An errant throw from the short stop gave Finney enough time to cross home plate to even the score.
Finney, Gillespie and Whitley were not done for the night, however, as they all found themselves on base again in the eighth inning. With the bases loaded, Mikayla Allee drew a walk with a 10-pitch at-bat, bringing in the winning run.
Ole Miss will need to perform more of these heroics when the Missouri Tigers come into town this weekend.
The Tigers are 23-16 overall and hold a 6-6 record in the SEC. Their resume has them just outside of the USA Today Top 25, and they have series wins over then-No. 13 Georgia and swept then-No. 23 Kentucky under their belts. Pitcher Madi Norman threw her first career no-hitter in an 8-0 victory over Oregon in the Mizzou Tournament.
Missouri swept rival Illinois in a doubleheader on Tuesday with 2-0 and 3-2 wins. Norman pitched a shutout in the first game, and the Tigers rallied to win the second game in the final inning.
The Rebels have been victorious in 20 of their last 24 games, and they’ve defended their home turf especially well this season. They have a 15-2 record in the Ole Miss Softball Complex, with their only home losses coming against then-No. 14 Arkansas and then-No. 6 Florida.
Ole Miss enters the homestretch of the regular season after this weekend with midweek matchups against UT Martin and Southern Miss as well as three more weekend series against Mississippi State,Tennessee and Georgia.
The SEC Tournament will be held May 3-11 in College Station, Texas.
The series this weekend will start with a doubleheader on Friday, with first pitch of the first game set for 3 p.m. and the next game set to follow immediately after at 6 p.m. The Sunday matchup will start at 1 p.m.
