Kelby ZendejasThe Ole Miss softball team traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Blazer Classic over the weekend and brought home a trio of wins and a pair of losses.
The Rebels beat the Oklahoma State Cowgirls and the UAB Blazers after a day of brilliant offensive play on Friday. During the first match against Oklahoma State, Ole Miss fell behind early, giving up two points in the first inning. However, they showed their resilience, scoring seven runs in the last three innings of the game.
The Cowgirls tried again in the bottom of the last inning with two runs. However, Ava Tillmann shut them out when she caught the final out to secure the game.
Later that day, the Rebels faced the hosting UAB Blazers and secured a 5-0 win after Anna Borgen’s first complete-game shutout.
The winning momentum switched after Saturday’s 5-3 loss against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. Ole Miss took an early lead in the first inning but were unable to keep the Ragin’ Cajuns from clawing their way back on top.
The lead was gone in the fifth inning when Louisiana strung together four hits to score three runs, tying the game. Louisiana then sealed the victory in the sixth inning, leaving Ole Miss unable to bounce back.
A long 13-inning game against the UAB Blazers finally ended with a 14-11 win for the Rebels. After another early slip and back-and-forth battle, Ole Miss brought out four different pitchers to secure the win.
The first five innings were smooth sailing for the Rebels until pitcher Savannah Diederich faced trouble in the sixth. The sophomore gave up a pair of singles and a three-run home run in consecutive at-bats, letting the Blazers tie it up with three runs apiece. Neither team scored a run in the seventh inning, forcing the game into extra frames.
After five extra innings of even more back-and-forth, the Rebels regained the lead in the 13th thanks to Autumn Gillespie’s RBI double and Abbey Latham’s second home run of the game. UAB was unable to catch the win after that. Savannah Diederich posted a career-high against UAB by striking out seven Blazers.
The final game of the classic was another fall against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns with a score of 8-1. Louisiana managed to rack up six points in the first three innings before Ole Miss scratched the surface scoring one at the bottom of the fourth.
The Ragin Cajuns wouldn’t let the Rebels’ momentum sway the game as Louisiana struck a pair of runs in the fifth inning. The Rebels’ defense was enough to keep Louisiana from scoring again, but they were unable to strike a run in the last two innings of the game, giving it to Louisiana.
The Rebels take on North Alabama this Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Oxford.
