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Ole Miss Softball: Rebels Avoid Sweep With Walk-Off Over No.10 Tigers

By Daniel Skipper

BEIJING - AUGUST 21: The shoes worn by players from the United States remain at home plate after the five players left them there following USA's 3-1 loss to Japan during the women's grand final gold medal softball game at the Fengtai Softball Field during Day 13 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 21, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
BEIJING - AUGUST 21: The shoes worn by players from the United States remain at home plate after the five players left them there following USA's 3-1 loss to Japan during the women's grand final gold medal softball game at the Fengtai Softball Field during Day 13 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 21, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /
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Game-three of the series with No.10 Auburn proved to be much better for Ole Miss softball than the first two games as the Rebels got the walk-off win.

Ole Miss softball (17-14, 3-9) was coming off back to back losses to the No.10 Auburn Tigers (33-7, 7-5). After losing a tough 3-1 game Friday night, the Rebels followed up with a 5-1 loss Saturday. The Rebels would have to respond big on Easter Sunday to avoid the sweep and their 10th SEC loss of the season. Of course, with it being a busy weekend for Ole Miss sports we are going to rundown both game-two and game-three here.

Game-1

Saturday game-two stayed scoreless through the first two innings. In the top of the 3rd Auburn opened up a 3-run frame to take the 3-0 lead. With the score still 3-0 heading into the 5th the Tigers added 2 insurance runs to extend the lead to 5-0. In the bottom of the frame the Rebels their only run to cut the lead to 5-1. The Rebels couldn’t put a rally together and fell to the Tigers 5-1.

Game-2

Easter Sunday turned out to be a bad April Fools joke for the Auburn Tigers. The Rebels jumped on the board first in game-three. Scoreless thru 3.5 innings the Rebels struck in the bottom of the 4th with 2 runs. With the 2-0 lead the Rebels held the Tigers scoreless thru the 5th but Auburn answered with 1 run in the 6th.

With the lead cut 2-1 the Tigers added another run in the top the top of the 7th to tie the game 2-2. After a scoreless top in the 8th, with 2 outs Amanda Roth jacked a shot over the left-field wall to earn the walk-off 3-2 win. The win was nice but there are still improvements to be made. For now we’ll look at these two games by the numbers.

By The Numbers

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Game-2

Freshman left-hander Anna Borgen (2-5) drew the start in the circle for the Rebels. Borgen went 2.0 innings and allowed 1 earned run on 4 hits. Borgen had 1 BB. After Borgen faced 3 Tigers batters in the 3rd coach Mike Smith made the call and freshman right-hander Ava Tillman entered. Tillman went 5.0 innings and allowed 2 earned runs on 4 hits. Tillman also had 1 BB.

At the plate there were 4 Rebels who combined for 8 hits Saturday with 2 Rebels having multiple hit games. Juniors Celeste Wood and Brittany Finney both went 3 for 3 at the plate against very good Auburn pitching. Sophomore Autumn Gillespie and freshman Amanda Roth both went 1 for 3. Sophomore Kaylee Horton had 1 RBI.

This was another game which the Rebels failed to produce consistently throughout the batting order. Once this team begins to hit on a consistent basis they’ll be hard to beat. However, they have failed in recent weeks to do so. Of course, in this game, 2 errors didn’t help the outcome.

Game-2

Senior right-hander Kaitlin Lee (11-6) drew the start for the Easter Sunday game-three. Lee went for 8.0 innings for the complete game and allowed just 1 earned run on 6 hits. Lee had 2 Ks and 4 BB. Of course, Lee was as solid as she has been all season and looked really good in the circle. The win was Lee’s 11th on the season.

At the plate 7 Rebels exploded for 12 hits in the game with 3 Rebels having multiple hit games. Junior Kylan Becker led all Rebels going 4 for 4 and scoring a run. Senior Elantra Cox went 2 for 3 with 1 RBI while sophomore Kaylee Horton went 2 for 4 in the lead-off spot. Freshman Amanda Roth, who had the big hit of the day, went 1 for 2 (HR) of course with 1 RBI and a run scored.

Juniors Celeste Wood and Brittany Finney both went 1 for 4 at the plate. Wood had a run scored. Sophomore Autumn Gillespie also went 1 for 4 but had 1 RBI. Although the Rebels had sound pitching from Kaitlin Lee, the Rebels got more production from their lineup and it made a huge difference from games one and two to game-three.

Next: Don't Give Up Just Yet!

Up Next

Ole Miss softball will be back in action this Wednesday as they travel to Hattiesburg to take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (14-25, 4-8 CUSA). USM softball is coming off a 5 consecutive losses which included a sweep by Louisiana Tech this weekend. USM will face South Alabama Tuesday night. Of course, the Golden Eagles won the last meeting with the Rebels in the Ole Miss Classic 5-2. First pitch for the midweek in-state match-up is set for 6pm CT and will be televised via CUSA TV PPV. Good luck to coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels. BEAT THE BIRDS! Hotty Toddy!

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