Ole Miss Softball Sweeps Series With SFA

Staff and Wire Reports | Paige Smith and the Rebel bats came alive as Ole Miss softball won both games of the doubleheader against Stephen F. Austin, 12-2 and 7-4, to sweep the series Friday afternoon at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.

The Rebels 21-4 start to the season is tied for the best record through 25 games in program history with the 2017 team that won the SEC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional.

GAME ONE | OLE MISS 12, SFA 2

A pair of big innings helped the Rebels surge past SFA in game one of the doubleheader. Ole Miss put up a five spot in the opening frame and scored seven in the bottom of the fourth to bring the run-rule into effect.

Smith and Whitley each went 2-for-3 at the plate, driving in a pair of runs and scoring two more. Meanwhile, Diederich and Vestal threw 2.0 innings apiece, holding the Ladyjacks to two runs on two hits, and Landyn Bruce finished off the game, pitching the fifth.

The Rebels batted through the order in the first inning, plating five runs. Smith made SFA pay early on after Whitley and Abbey Latham walked, driving an RBI single up the middle. The next three Ole Miss batters singled as Sydney Gutierrez, Mikayla Allee and Angelina DeLeon all drove in runs to make it 5-0.

Stephen F. Austin got a pair of runs back, scoring in the second and third. The Ladyjacks took advantage of a Rebel error and used a solo home run to cut into the lead.

After stranding baserunners in the second and third, the Rebel offense exploded for a seven-run inning. Whitley, doing what she does best, singled to lead off the inning, swiped a bag and scored on the 134^th RBI of Latham’s career. With the base knock, the Livingston, Alabama, native moved into third all-time in the Ole Miss record books for runs driven in.

Smith continued the inning with an RBI double, forcing SFA to make a pitching change. Gutierrez smoked a single up the middle to score Smith, and then back-to-back hit batters loaded the bases. Freshman KK Esparza broke the game wide open with a two-RBI single to make it 10-2. Whiley then capped off the inning that she started with another RBI base hit to score the final two Rebels.

Needing only three outs to run-rule Stephen F. Austin, Bruce got the job done thanks to a diving catch by freshman Annie Orman in foul territory for the final out of the game.

GAME TWO | OLE MISS 7, SFA 4

Ole Miss completed the series sweep in game two as Smith launched two home runs to help the Rebels overcome an early deficit and pick up the 7-4 win.

Stephen F. Austin got on the board first with a three-run home run in the first inning off Furbush. Ole Miss and Whitley responded after she led off the game with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly from Bre Roper.

The Ladyjacks held the lead through three innings before Smith took command of the offense. Roper started the inning off with a single and scored after a fielding error on a base hit from Latham. Smith then stepped up to the plate and blasted a two-run shot to the parking lot in center field. DeLeon then doubled in Gutierrez to give the Rebels a two-run lead.

Catelyn Riley came in to pitch the final 3.2 innings, retiring the final nine batters faced to pick up her fourth win of the season. She got a pair of insurance runs too, as Furbush doubled in Allee in the fifth, and Smith hit her second home run of the afternoon, sending this one off the scoreboard.