James Minzesheimer
The Ole Miss softball team took a trip south of the border this past week to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to play in their College Challenge tournament.
The Rebels went 2-3 for the weekend, scoring wins against Colorado State and the Mexican National Team and dropping losses to Utah, California Baptist and No. 6 Texas.
On Thursday, the Rebels played two games, coming out on top with a 2-0 extra-inning victory over Colorado State.
Starter Molly Jacobsen struck out 10 during the game and had a no-hitter going through five. The senior pitched a complete game shutout and only allowed two Colorado State hits.
On the offensive end, it was timely bunting and base running from Nyomi Jones that would start the two-run eighth inning that would give the Rebels the lead.
Coming off the win, the Rebels faced an undefeated Utah team. The Rebels were able to keep it close through most of the game, but ultimately ended up falling to the Utes 5-4. The Rebels struggled defensively with two errors that proved to be crucial.
The Rebels left Thursday night 1-1 going into Friday, where they would face California Baptist in the early afternoon. The two teams struck early, Ole Miss scoring two in the second and California Baptist scoring four. Neither team would score for the rest of the game.
Jacobsen pitched four innings in the game, coming off only a day of rest, and though not a bad performance for the senior lefty, it was not as spectacular as her performance on Thursday night.
After playing an early game on Friday, the Rebels would not start their last day of the tournament until 3:30 p.m., playing against the Mexican National team.
The Rebels struck in the first inning during this one after a double from junior first basemen Gabby Alvarez. The Rebels continued scoring, tacking on two more in the fourth and one more in sixth.
Junior Anna Borgen had a strong performance, giving up only one run in seven innings of work.
The Rebels’ last matchup of the day came against No. 6 Texas, who was sporting a 10-0 record. The Rebels seemed out of this one early, allowing four runs in the first three innings. This game points again to the weakness of the Rebels’ defense; they committed four errors in route to this 4-1 loss.
Jacobsen started in this game, pitching on all three days of this tournament. Though the outcome was not in her favor against Texas, some of that blame can be taken off her shoulders as two of Texas’s four runs were unearned.
Ole Miss comes out of this one with a 1-8 overall record in what has been an unimpressive start to the season. The Rebels next play in UAB’s Blazer Classic, where they hope to try and turn around their season before a seven-game home stint.
