Sarah HendersonThe Ole Miss softball team split its weekend series against South Carolina, as the third game on Monday was canceled due to rain.
In Saturday’s game, the Rebels struggled to get the offense going, recording just 3 hits the entire game. Senior Brittany Finney allowed just 2 runs on 3 hits in 6.0 innings of work on the mound. She also recorded 6 strikeouts in the losing effort. Ole Miss had three opportunities with runners in scoring position but came up short each time. The Rebels lost 2-0.
In the first inning, sophomore Abbey Latham was hit by a pitch and advanced all the way to third on a single to right by junior Autumn Gillespie. Gillespie then managed to take second on a wild pitch, but the ball was recovered too quickly for Latham to score from third.
Sophomore Amanda Roth battled for six pitches but eventually struck out, stranding runners at second and third.
In the third inning, senior Kylan Becker hit an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error but was then stranded at second after back-to-back outs.
The Rebels’ final opportunity in scoring position came after Becker walked to lead off the sixth and managed to steal second after Latham lined out. However, she was stranded after back-to-back strikeouts closed out the inning.
On Sunday, the Rebels came away victorious in a nail-biting extra-inning affair, scoring the only two runs of the game in the top of the eighth inning. They had many more opportunities to score in this game but again struggled to drive in runners in scoring position.
In the top of the first inning, Becker led off with a single to left and stole second during the next at-bat. Two batters later, Gillespie walked, but both were stranded on base when Finney struck out to end the inning.
Becker had another leadoff single in the third and advanced to second on a passed ball. The Rebels were again unable to capitalize and stranded her in scoring position after three straight outs.
Ole Miss was finally able to break through in extras, coming alive in the eighth inning after both teams failed to score for the first seven. Sophomore Jessica Puk got the scoring started with a leadoff homer to left, breaking the tie and putting the Rebels in position to split the two-game series. Gillespie followed that up with a triple to right field and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Junior Molly Jacobsen was masterful on the mound, throwing 8.0 scoreless innings while giving up just 3 hits and 3 walks. She struck out 10 of the 30 batters she faced, including three clutch punchouts in the final two innings. Jacobsen improves to 10-1 on the season, and her 1.04 ERA leads the SEC.
On Monday, the Rebels jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the game was stopped going into the top of the fifth inning because of inclement weather. After an extended wait, the game was canceled per SEC rules because the teams were unable to resume by 9:30 p.m.
The NCAA requires a minimum of five complete innings for a game to be completed, so the game was canceled and all of the stats were thrown out.
Ole Miss returns home this weekend for a three-game series against Florida starting on Friday.
