Lily GreenThe Ole Miss Softball team welcomed the Georgia Bulldogs to Oxford for their second home conference series this season that started on Saturday, March 23, and wrapped up on Sunday, March 24. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 5 in the country coming into the matchup, while Ole Miss was unranked. The power level difference was evident, as the Lady Bulldogs thoroughly defeated the Lady Rebels in all three games of the series.
Game one (lost 0-7)
Due to inclement weather on Friday night, Ole Miss moved the first game to Saturday, making it a doubleheader. March 23 was sunny, and the Rebels looked forward to starting their series.
Unfortunately, the Lady Rebels dropped their first game due to a lack of offense; they just could not get their bats going to spark any kind of momentum. While it took until the fifth inning for the Bulldogs to score, they gave the Rebels a hard time by scoring in the remaining three innings.
Ole Miss had problems hitting, having only one, which was not gained until the bottom of the seventh inning from designated player Aynslie Furbush. The Rebels also had an error, which further hurt their chances of pulling off a win.
Game two (lost 10-7)
In game two of the weekend series, the Lady Rebels started with back-to-back home runs in the second inning from catchers Lexie Brady and Furbush, setting a much better offensive tempo than the previous match. Quickly, though, the Lady Bulldogs had the same idea, putting up three runs early and keeping the Rebels down.
Georgia continued to score throughout the fourth through sixth innings, which put Ole Miss far behind at 7-2 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. However, the Rebels scored three runs in this inning, narrowing the gap to 7-5.
After scoring two clutch runs in the seventh inning to tie up the game, the Lady Rebels were unable to keep Georgia from firing back, as the Lady Bulldogs scored three runs at the top of the eighth inning. This proved to be too much for Ole Miss to recover from, and the Lady Rebels lost their second straight game.
Game three (lost 1-4):
Ole Miss started well with a 1-0 lead for the first two innings of game three. However, that would be the only run they would get in this tough, defense-oriented game. The Lady Bulldogs tied the game in the top of the third inning, and they never looked back.
The game stayed tied for a while and looked like it could go into extra innings, but Georgia had other plans. The Lady Rebels gave up three runs in the top of the seventh inning and could not answer back with their own bats, causing them to take a final loss and a series sweep.
What’s next?
Ole Miss will continue its stretch of home games with a three-game series against the University of South Carolina Gamecock from Friday, March 29, to Sunday, March 31. The first pitch is set for Friday at 6 p.m. CT.
