Ole Miss Softball: Rebels Top Sun Devils 2-0, Advance To Championship

Ole Miss softball is on a roll. Point blank and in your face, this Ole Miss softball team has left an indelible mark on the 2017 softball season. They continued their championship run with a huge winner’s brackets decision over Arizona State Saturday afternoon in the Oxford Regional.

The 2017 Ole Miss softball season hasn’t been easy. From the twisting in and out of the Top 20 right down to the grueling post-season it has been rough. The competition has been tough. From the opening game in the SEC Tourney, against instate rival MSU, down to last night’s opponent, ASU, it’s been a tough row to hoe. Now, Ole Miss is sitting in the driver’s seat at home against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

When the Rebels, who are rewriting SEC softball history, take the field tomorrow, they will have surpassed the very best softball teams in program history. The stars are aligned for Ole Miss and they are wearing Rebel red and blue. Of course, history is still being written. Can Ole Miss softball continue to write their chapter as NCAA softball legends? We find out today. For now, lets take a good look at the last pages written. Of course, it has to be by the numbers.

In The Circle

More from Ole Miss Softball

• Ole Miss Softball: Rebels fall to Cats, exit College Station early
• Ole Miss Softball: Rebels come back, beat Miss State in SEC Tourney
• Ole Miss Softball: Rebels rack up SEC regular season honors
• Ole Miss Softball: Poor officiating is killing SEC sports
• Ole Miss Softball: No.15 Rebels ready for SEC Tourney

Once again Kaitlin Lee proved to be key in the 2-0 decision over Arizona State. Lee went 7.0 innings in a complete performance for the 11th consecutive game.

Lee (22-10, 1.69) threw 87 pitches in the contest while placing 58 of them in the strike zone. Lee gave up no runs on only 3 hits and walked her 1st batter in the postseason while chalking up 3 Ks.

Lee has continued to prove that she has the hot arm in this postseason. Ole Miss softball skipper head coach Mike Smith has already shown his faith and trust in Lee and we can fully expect to see much more of her.

According to OleMissSports.com,

"Junior RHP Kaitlin Lee recorded her 11th-straight complete game, breaking her own school record from earlier this season. She allowed only three hits and struck out three, earning her 22nd win of 2017, only one off tying Madi Osias’ record from a year ago. ~OleMissSports.com"

At The Plate

Though the game was deadlocked scoreless into the 6th inning, the Rebels put on the offense to secure the win. On the afternoon, Ole Miss accounted for 2 runs on 6 hits. However, it came down to just 3 Rebel batters to get the job done. Leading all Rebels in the box was the sensational Elantra Cox. Cox (.429) went 3 for 3 on the day and scored a run.

Of course, Kylan Becker was in the mix as well. Becker (.381) had a 2 for 3 day at the plate while knocking in a RBI and scoring the only other run in the game. Miranda Strother (.309) pitched in as well with a 1 for 3 afternoon while also knocking in the game’s other RBI.

Regional Championship Next

The Ole Miss Rebels (42-18) will face the North Carolina Tar Heels (40-20) in Sunday’s regional championship round. UNC, who lost the first game of the regional to ASU 9-3, rebounded in the loser’s bracket to overcome SIU 4-0 and ASU 3-2 on Saturday evening.

North Carolina is a tough team and besides almost identical records they are a team built in the mold of a strong tourney run. With a pretty good pitching corp and hitters who step up in clutch situations UNC is a formidable opponent.

First pitch is set for 1:30pm CT from the Ole Miss Softball Complex in Oxford. TV designations have not yet been announced, however OHT will post updates via Facebook and Twitter.