Griffin Ray
Ole Miss softball opened their 2023 season late Friday night in Mexico for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. After a promising offseason, the Rebels showed up strong for their first game of the year, beating North Carolina 6-1.
The Rebels tallied a whopping nine hits while only giving up three from the Tar Heels. The Friday night starting pitcher for Ole Miss, Aynslie Furbush, gave up only one earned run in her first start of the season. A solo shot in the first put the Tar Heels up early, but Furbush was lights out from there, not allowing a single hit after the home run.
The girls quickly responded with an RBI single in the top of the second inning by sophomore second baseman Keila Kamoku, making it a tie game yet again. Furbush’s replacement, Catelyn Riley, came in the fourth inning where she would stay until one out into the seventh. Riley gave up only two hits and tallied four strikeouts in the 3.1 innings she pitched.
After the second inning, there was no action for either side until a throwing error in the fourth inning allowed freshman center fielder Jalia Lassiter to score, making it a 2-1 ballgame. From there, the Rebels began to heat up. One more run in the fifth propelled Ole Miss to a massive sixth inning.
Both Kamoku and Lassiter each got yet another RBI on top of outfielder Tate Whitley’s first action of the night, making it a five-run game late in the sixth inning. Riley was replaced by Makenna Klietherm in the bottom of the seventh who closed out the remaining 0.2 innings of the game. Klietherm made quick work of the North Carolina offense, not giving up a single hit.
On the offensive side, Kamoku led the team with two hits and two RBIs in three at-bats. Lassiter also deserves some of the spotlight after a 2-for-3 game and an RBI triple in her Ole Miss debut.
The future looks bright for this year’s softball team as the Rebels face No. 24 Oregon on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 3 p.m. CST. They look to get their first ranked win in only the second game of the season in a big matchup on day two of the Puerta Vallarta College Challenge.
