After defeating then-No. 4 Tennessee for its first SEC series win of the season, the Ole Miss Softball team won three straight games against nonconference opponents. On Tuesday, March 31, the Rebels defeated Memphis. The next day, they defeated Central Arkansas, and on Tuesday, April 7, they defeated Samford.
Memphis
Ole Miss’ offensive firepower was in full effect on the road against the Memphis Tigers. The Rebels won, 10-0.
The scoring began in the third inning. Mackenzie Pickens walked, and Persy Llamas hit a single to the right-center gap, advancing Pickens to third. She scored two at-bats later following a sacrifice fly by Cassie Reasner.
In the fourth, Ryan Starr and Kennedy Bunker both doubled. Starr scored the Rebels’ second run of the game.
In the fifth inning, Llamas singled to get things going, and Madi George singled to right. Reasner hit a 3-run homer over the left field wall to put the Rebels up 5-0. Taylor Roman pinch hit for Rachel Connors, and she hit a home run to left field.
Bunker walked to start the seventh, and Cassidy Patterson came in to pinch run. Patterson stole second on a wild pitch, then Pickens walked. Llamas then singled to center field, scoring Patterson and advancing Pickens to second. After George flew out, Reasner hit another 3-run homer to left center to make the score 10-0.
Lilly Whitten got the win. She pitched seven innings and recorded six strikeouts, three hits and four walks.
Central Arkansas
The Rebels travelled to Conway, Ark., to take on the Central Arkansas Bears on Wednesday, March 31. Ole Miss shut out the Bears and won, 5-0.
In the second inning, Reasner hit a solo shot to give the Rebels an early lead.
The big offensive push from Ole Miss came in the fifth inning. Laylonna Applin singled to left field, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Starr. Liesl Osteen pinch hit for Taylor Malvin, who singled, advancing Applin to third.
Bunker reached on an error, moving Osteen to third base and scoring Applin to put the Rebels ahead, 2-0. Patterson pinch ran for Bunker.
Pickens grounded out, but Patterson advanced to second base, and Osteen scored the Rebels’ third run of the game. Patterson then scored on a Llamas single, extending the Ole Miss lead to 4-0.
In the seventh inning, the Rebels added to the lead when Bunker doubled then scored on a Picken’s single.
Kyra Aycock and Emilee Boyer combined for only four hits allowed through seven innings. They forced the Bears to put the ball in play. The Rebel defense accounted for 15 groundouts and just one error.
Samford
Boyer began the night in the circle for the Rebels on Tuesday, April 7, against the Samford Bulldogs. The Rebels extended their win streak to three games with a 6-2 victory.
The Bulldogs scratched first after a Rebel error that led to a run. They tacked on another after a double.
After a short mound visit, Boyer retired the next two Samford batters to get the Rebels out of the inning.
Several Rebels reached base on errors in the first inning. Reasner struck a single up the middle to bring Bunker home and get Ole Miss on the board, though the Rebels were still trailing, 2-1.
In the third, George made a diving catch to prevent a run.
In the bottom of the fourth, George doubled to right center, and Alexa Rosales came in to pinch run. She advanced to third on a sacrifice fly to right field, then scored on Roman’s fly out to center field to tie the game at 2.
In the bottom of the fifth, Pickens walked and reached third on a single by Llamas.
The biggest moment of the night came from George’s no-doubt home run to left field, which gave the Rebels their first lead of the night, 5-2. George’s homerun was 77.8 miles per hour off the bat and traveled 238.3 feet. In the sixth inning, Connors pinch hit for Starr, and hit a home run, her seventh of the season. The Rebels won, 6-2.
What’s next?
Ole Miss (26-15, 2-10 SEC) will host No. 13 Texas A&M for a three-game series beginning on Friday, April 10, at 6 p.m. SEC Network+ will broadcast the game.
