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Underdog Uprising: Llamas’ home run heroics propel Ole Miss softball to brink of Supers

Ben Garrettby:Ben Garrett•05/17/25•

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Ole Miss softball's Persey Llamas (Photo credit: Ole Miss Softball/X)

Persy Llamas on Saturday became the first Ole Miss softball Rebel with a multi-home run game in the NCAA Tournament in seven years.

The No. 17-ranked Rebels outlasted No. 13 overall seed and host Arizona, 10-8, and are off to the finals of the NCAA Tucson Regional. Llamas helped Ole Miss match a single-game program record for home runs (5).

“Pretty exciting game to be a part of,” Ole Miss head coach Jamie Trachsel said afterwards. “Just really proud of the fight we had and the resiliency we showed throughout the whole game.

“We kind of knew it’d be a dog fight, little bit of a shootout. Just proud of our efforts. Total team win. It took everybody to come out on top. Proud of the fight we had. Looking forward to the opportunity to go out tomorrow.”

Ashton Lansdell was a one-woman highlight reel in the Rebels’ first-round win over No. 23 Grand Canyon. 

Saturday was Llamas’ turn in the spotlight.

Ole Miss (39-17, 11-13 SEC) made a first-inning statement with four runs, including a three-run shot from Llamas to right field.

“We were underdogs,” Llamas said. “People expect us not to have a great offense or defense but we showed up and showed out.”

Arizona rallied for a 7-5 lead. However, Llamas left the yard again to spark a fifth-inning rally, punctuated by a pinch-hit, three-run blast from senior Taylor Roman.

“We had talked about the different matchups,” Trachsel said of the decision to go to Roman. “That was actually (Ole Miss assistant coach) Ehren’s (Earleywine) call. He’s got a great offensive mind and thought in that time it was the right plug for Taylor. I have a lot of trust in those decisions. Big credit to Ehren for that decision at that time.

“I actually told Taylor earlier in the cages today, ‘You’re going to have a really big moment today.’ Actually told someone today I think she’s going to hit a home run. But Ehren, big credit to him on the timing of that and recognizing that was the moment to put her in against that matchup.”

Lexie Brady set a new single-season program record for home runs (16). Brady was one of the record six Rebels named NFCA All-South Region earlier this week. Ole Miss on Sunday will face the winner of an elimination game between Arizona (46-12, 17-7 Big 12) and Grand Canyon. 

The Rebels will then have two opportunities to punch their ticket to the NCAA Super Regional round. The first is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+. A second game, if necessary, would be at 9 p.m. CT. 

Here’s everything Trachsel, Llamas and Roman had to say following the win.

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