From the Wire: Ole Miss softball drops doubleheader with No. 9 Florida

Ole Miss swung the bat well, but a few costly errors came back to haunt the Rebels as they dropped both games of the doubleheader with No. 9 Florida on Friday at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.

The Rebels (29-14, 5-10 SEC) battled all afternoon with the Gators (34-9, 11-7 SEC), hitting five home runs in game two of the twin bill. Unfortunately, the seven Rebel errors on the day aided Florida as the two teams wrapped up the series early.

GAME ONE | OLE MISS 3, FLORIDA 7

Florida took the lead two batters into the game, opening the contest with back-to-back doubles. The Gators tallied another run on a pair of singles before Borgen was able to get out of the inning. They went on to load the bases in the second and doubled their lead with an RBI single through the right side to make it 4-0.

Ole Miss threatened in the bottom half of both the first and second innings, moving a pair of runners into scoring position, but was unable to bring any runs in.

Borgen and the Rebels settled in on defense, keeping the Gators off the board for a few innings and giving the Ole Miss’ offense a chance to answer. Tate Whitley, Bre Roper and Paige Smith strung together three base hits to start the fifth inning, ultimately loading the bases for Abbey Latham. She drove in the first run of the game on an RBI fielder’s choice and then stole second base. After a lengthy review, Gutierrez ripped a double in the gap to bring Ole Miss within one.

However, Florida responded with a run in the top of the sixth and two more in the seventh to push the lead back to four. In the circle, they stranded runners in the final two frames to take the second game of the series, 7-3.

GAME TWO | OLE MISS 9, FLORIDA 10

Ole Miss mustered up everything it had left in the tank in game two of the twin bill, dropping a heartbreaker to No. 9 Florida in a four-hour thriller that included a lightning and rain delay.

The Rebels got on the board first for the first time this weekend. Gutierrez and Riley walked to start the inning and came around to score on a throwing error after Allee laid down a sacrifice bunt.

Florida was finally able to get its offense going after Diederich had the Gators stifled through two innings. They scored five runs on three hits in the third to take a 5-1 lead.

Ole Miss didn’t shy away. In the bottom half of the third, the Rebels blasted two home runs to tie things back up with the Gators at five. Latham launched a two-run blast over the wall in left, and two batters later, Allee hit her second home run of the series to knot things up.

Florida once again responded in the fourth, adding a pair of unearned runs to go back in front.

Following a quiet half-inning from both teams, Ole Miss stormed back into the ball game in the bottom of the fifth. Smith got ahold of a 2-2 pitch over the plate and crushed a no-doubter down the line in left. Two batters later, Gutierrez gave one a ride to center for her first home run of the season and the Rebels’ fourth on the day.

With one out in the top of the sixth, play was suspended due to lightning in the area. After an hour-and-16-minute delay, Borgen and the Rebels picked up where they left off, getting the final two outs of the sixth.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued as Florida hit a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to retake the lead. Ole Miss continued to battle back, with Riley demolishing a two-run homer to pull the Rebels back within one, but the Gators managed to scrape together three outs to sweep the series.

Ole Miss is back in action on Tuesday with the last home midweek of the season. The Rebels take on Louisiana Tech at 6 p.m. CT.