Ole Hotty Toddy
Fansided

Ole Miss Softball: No.2O Rebels Walk Off Again, Take Series From No.13 Tide, New Rankings Out

By Daniel Skipper

Aug 6, 2016; Irvine, CA, USA; Beverly Bandits players celebrate after defeating the South Dakota Renegades to with the 16U Premier Championship at the Girls Premier Fastpitch Nationals at Bill Barber Community Park. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 6, 2016; Irvine, CA, USA; Beverly Bandits players celebrate after defeating the South Dakota Renegades to with the 16U Premier Championship at the Girls Premier Fastpitch Nationals at Bill Barber Community Park. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

With scheduling changes No.20 Ole Miss softball (34-17, 8-13) found itself in double-header duel with No.13 Alabama Saturday. The Tide took game-1 2-0, however Ole Miss found a walk off in game 2 and secured the 2-1 win against the No.13 Tide. Monday would be more of the same as Ole Miss Rebel softball would once again win in walk off fashion.

Ole Miss softball had the momentum from Saturdays second game going into yesterdays rubber game. Alabama softball (39-13, 11-9) has always been strong against the Rebels. The win Saturday was what had finally got the monkey off their backs breaking a 12 year win-less streak against the Tide.

The No.13 Tide have always had a stellar softball program which has always been a thorn in the side of Ole Miss softball fans. That all ended Monday evening in Oxford as Ole Miss softball took the rubber game and the series. According to OleMissSports.com, the series win over Alabama softball was the first in program history.

Ole Miss softball may be peaking at just the right time. One thing is for sure, the timing of taking a series from the No.13 team in the nation couldn’t be much better for the Rebels. The new NCAA softball rankings came out this morning. With the walk-off win fresh on the minds of Ole Miss softball faithful, many including myself, were shocked to find we had fallen to No.21 in major polls. We will talk more about that shortly. For now, lets just focus on a huge Ole Miss SEC series win.

In The Circle

More from Ole Miss Softball

Much like many other softball fans I have a deep appreciation for the position of pitcher. In the SEC you can believe I great arm equates wins, especially when you have consistency. Kaitlin Lee (15-9) gives both when she is in the circle.

Per OleMissSports.com, Lee pitched her 17th complete game which was also her 15th win of the season. Lee, going the distance, allowed only 2 earned runs on 9 hits, while she also etched out 5 Ks in the game.

Lee’s Monday evening performance was came off a Saturday game 1 start in which she also pitched a complete game. She would be dominant throughout game 1 only allowing 2 earned runs on 7 hits.

Obviously when Kaitlin Lee is in the circle we have much more success. With her hitting overdrive at this point in the season is extremely advantageous to  the Rebels success. Of course, lets not forget Oklahoma transfer Brittany Finney (5-0) and her complete 7.0 performance in game 2. Finney allowed only 1 earned run on 3 hits.

At The Plate

We can’t say anything about the offensive side of the ball without talking about Kylan Becker first. For consecutive games she delivered the walk-off hits to win both game 2 and game 3 in the SEC series.

On the evening, Kylan Becker went 1 for 4 but delivered when it mattered most. For the second straight game, with the game-winning walk-off hit. Her game-winning walk off gave the Rebels the 5-4 home win and the Bama series. Today Becker was named SEC Co-Player of the Week.

Statistically leading all Rebel hitters in the game, was senior Courtney Syrett. Syrett (.260) went 1 for 2 and knocked in 2 RBIs. Junior Paige McKinney (.250) also came thru at the plate going 1 for 2 with an RBI.

Capitalizing On Opportunities

Although Rebel hitters only accounted for 3 hits on the evening, they would find the base at the arm of Alexis Osorio. Although the Alabama ace struck out 13 Rebels on the night, she also issued 6 walks. Ole Miss offense produced just enough offense to get thru a tough opposing pitcher.

Ole Miss softball is doing everything right, at this point in the season. They are showing up defensively in every game they play and they are solid in the circle. Offensively, the No.21 ranked Rebels are taking advantage of opponents errors and converting base-runners into runs scored. That will create success for this Rebel team in post season play.

New Rankings Out

As stated earlier the new collegiate softball rankings are out, however Ole Miss softball actually dropped from No.20 to No.21. It makes no sense how a team ranked in the top 20 in the nation in rankings and RPI can take 2 out 3 games from a higher ranked team and not be rewarded for it. I’ve tried doing the math and it just doesn’t add up.

This softball team deserves to be ranked higher in my honest and fair opinion. Maybe 4 more consecutive wins will wake up the experts? Well, I say we turn our attention to the Golden Eagles.

USM Up Next

Ole Miss softball will be hosting the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles softball team in this midweek game. USM comes to Oxford with an overall record of 26-26. This will be the final home game this season for the Rebels. First pitch will be at 6pm CT at Ole Miss Softball Complex. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

Home/Ole Miss Softball