Ole Miss Odds and Ends: Rebel softball drops series finale at Mississippi State

Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations | Ole Miss softball dropped the series finale to Mississippi State 6-0 Sunday afternoon at Nusz Park to conclude its opening weekend of SEC play.

Savannah Diederich made her second start in the circle this weekend for Ole Miss (21-7, 0-3 SEC). Mississippi State (19-10, 4-2 SEC) managed to hand the righty her first loss of the season, racking up 10 hits.

The Bulldogs took a one-run lead in the second on an RBI bunt single. They continued to load the bases, but Diederich was able to get the final out to escape the jam. Mississippi State tacked on three more unearned runs in the fourth. A collision in the infield led to a dropped ball, and three singles helped MSU make it a 4-0 game.

Ole Miss turned to Brooke Vestal to start the fifth but brought Catelyn Riley in after the Bulldogs hit a two-run home run to push the lead to six.

Down to their final three outs, the Rebels notched their first hit of the afternoon as Aynslie Furbush singled through the left side.

To Oxford for an eight-game homestand, starting with SEC foe Missouri on Friday night at 8 p.m. CT.

Ole Miss women’s tennis narrowly defeated 4-3 by No. 7 Auburn

Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations | No. 61 Ole Miss Women’s Tennis (8-6, 2-4 SEC) fell 4-3 to No. 7 Auburn (14-2, 5-0 SEC) at home at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center on Sunday. The Rebels split two matches over the weekend, 1-1, versus two higher-ranked SEC opponents.

The Rebels and Tigers were evenly matched in singles on Sunday afternoon, splitting the six matches 3-3. Doubles proved crucial to the match result, as Auburn took the opening point and carved away a 4-3 victory over Ole Miss on the Rebels’ home court. The Rebels fall to 7-2 at home, having earned seven of eight wins in Oxford. The Rebels’ three-match win streak dating back to 2018 was snapped in a close dual.

The Tigers started hot, sweeping doubles 2-0. Auburn won quickly on Court No. 3, 6-1. No. 21 Selin Ovunc and Ariana Arseneault defeated Sabina Machalova and Rachel Krzyzak 6-3 to clinch the opening point for Auburn.

No. 79 Machalova responded in singles, defeating No. 57 Ovunc 6-4, 6-2 to tie the match 1-1. Machalova earned back-to-back wins at No. 1 Singles versus higher-ranked opponents this weekend. She improved her record to 17-9 overall and 7-4 in duals this season.

Auburn regained the lead, 2-1, by taking No. 2 Singles in straight sets. No. 114 Carolyn Ansari defeated Reka Zadori 6-4, 6-3. The Tigers would go on to lead the rest of the way. Auburn extended the lead to two decision points, taking No. 5 Singles in two sets. Yu Chen then clinched the victory at 4-1 for the Tigers defeating Elysia Pool. Pool won the first set 6-2, but then Chen won the second 6-0 and the third 6-4.

Seconds after Auburn clinched the victory Ludmila Kareisová defeated No. 54 Arsenault 6-4, 7-6 (5) to close the match to 4-2. Kareisovás win was the new highest-ranked win as the Freshman also defeated No. 89 Ena Babic of LSU on March 11. Rachel Krzyzak earned a grueling three-set win at No. 4 Singles to end the match on a positive note for the Rebels. After dropping the first set to Adeline Flach 4-6, Krzyzak won both the second and third sets 7-4 in tiebreaks. She won her fourth straight match and improved to 4-0 at the No. 4 position in 2022. The Rebels lost to the Tigers 4-3.

Up Next: The Rebels head on the road next weekend to compete at Florida on March 25 and at South Carolina on March 27.

Ole Miss men’s tennis defeated 6-1 at No. 7 South Carolina

Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations | No. 31 Ole Miss men’s tennis (11-7, 1-4 SEC) fell 6-1 to No. 7 South Carolina (15-4, 4-2 SEC) at the Carolina Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Rebels suffered their third consecutive road defeat. All three losses were against ranked opponents in the SEC. The Rebels fall to 1-4 in SEC play. Ole Miss has competed against seven teams ranked in the top-12 this season.

The Gamecocks got ahead early against the Rebels and maintained their lead throughout the match en route to a 6-1 win.

South Carolina swept doubles, 2-0, by winning at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions to take a 1-0 opening match lead. Finn Reynolds and Lukas Engelhardt lost their third straight match since being ranked No. 2 in the ITA Doubles Rankings (March 9).

South Carolina carried the momentum from doubles into singles. The Gamecocks started singles by winning the first set on Courts Nos. 1-5. No. 86 Toby Samuel won first, defeating Reynolds in straight sets at the No. 2 position. Rebel John Hallquist Lithén was then defeated in two sets on Court No. 3 by Connor Thomson. The Gamecocks clinched the match, 4-0, by taking No. 4 singles. Raphael Lambling earned the deciding victory, defeating Engelhardt 6-1, 7-5.

South Carolina extended their lead to six, taking No. 1 Singles. No. 16 Daniel Rodrigues defeated No. 21 Nikola Slavic 6-4, 6-3. No. 104 Jan Soren Hain then fell in a third-set super tiebreak to Jake Beasley.

Simon Junk closed the match with a Ole Miss victory. Junk came from behind to defeat South Carolina’s James Story 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Rebels lost at a 6-1 final score.

Junk improved to 14-7 overall and 8-5 in duals in singles this season.

Up Next: The Rebels return back to Oxford next weekend to face the Auburn Tigers on March 25 and the Kentucky Wildcats on March 27.