Ole Miss softball wraps up Knights Classic with sweep

Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations | ORLANDO, Fla. – Strong pitching from Landyn Bruce and Savannah Diederich helped Ole Miss softball close out its stay at the Knights Classic with a 3-1 win over DePaul and a 6-0 victory over Oakland. The Rebels finished the weekend with a 3-1 record, improving to 12-4 overall.

Offensively, Tate Whitley and Bre Roper tallied a combined 17 hits on the weekend, going 17-for-32 (.531) with 5 runs scored and 5 RBIs. The duo packs a one-two punch in the Ole Miss lineup. The Rebels also saw a pair of complete game shutouts from Brooke Vestal and Diederich.

GAME ONE | OLE MISS 3, DEPAUL 1

Playing its second game against DePaul in the last two days, Ole Miss topped the Blue Demons 3-1 thanks to a solid pitching performance from Landyn Bruce.

Bruce went 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits, but held DePaul to only one run. Diederich came in to record the final two outs, picking up her third save on the year.

After surrendering an early run in the second, Ole Miss looked to respond. Whitley and Roper recorded back-to-back singles with one out in the third, but the Rebels were unable to cash in. They finally tied things up in the fourth after Angelina DeLeon led off the inning with a double to left center. She scored on the very next at bat as freshman Lexie Brady picked up her first career hit, an RBI double.

Ole Miss then took the lead the following inning. With two outs, Paige doubled to right center and came around to score on a double from Sydney Gutierrez as the centerfielder couldn’t complete the catch as they ran into the wall.

Looking to pull even, DePaul put two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. The following Blue Demon batter singled to Whitley in left, who showed off her arm, gunning down the would-be tying run at the plate.

The Rebels added an insurance run in the top half of the seventh. Annie Orman drew a pinch-hit walk, and Nyomi Jones reentered to run. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and took third on a wild pitch. Jones flashed her speed to beat the tag on an RBI groundout, putting Ole Miss up 3-1.

GAME TWO | OLE MISS 6, OAKLAND 0

Diederich started the second game of the doubleheader and spun a gem, going 6.2 innings without allowing a hit before Oakland was finally able to drop a bloop single into no-man’s land. She picked up her 13^th strikeout of the game the very next batter to cap off the 6-0 victory.

Ole Miss used a big second and fourth inning to distance itself from the Golden Grizzlies. DeLeon started a four-run second with a leadoff single to left. Keila Kamoku walked a batter later, and Jones laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases. The Rebels proceeded to work the count as Roper and Gutierrez walked in runs and two more scored on pass balls.

In the fourth, Ole Miss added another pair. Whitley led off the inning with a walk and moved into scoring position on a pitch in the dirt. She then came around to score on Roper’s RBI single back up the middle. Two batters later, freshman Catelyn Riley smashed an RBI double down the line for her first career hit in her first-ever plate appearance.

Defensively, Diederich was mowing down batters. She worked four 1-2-3 innings throughout the ball game, including a 10 pitch third that featured three strikeouts. The senior righty was able to get the first two outs of the seventh before Oaklands Herrington broke up the no-hit bid on the 100^th pitch of the afternoon. Diederich, however, wasn’t fazed. She locked back in punchout the final batter on three straight pitches.

QUICK HITS

• Freshmen Lexie Brady and Catelyn Riley tallied their first collegiate hits on Sunday, both RBI doubles.

• Tate Whitley reached base for the 14^th straight game.

• Bre Roper recorded her seventh multi-hit game of the season and eighth consecutive game with at least one hit.

• Whitley and Roper tallied a combined 17 hits on the weekend, going 17-for-32 (.531) with 5 runs scored and 5 RBIs.