Kelby ZendejasOle Miss softball fell to Iowa State in the final match of the Florida Atlantic University “Strike Out Cancer” Tournament on Sunday. The Rebels posted a 2-3 record during the weekend, with two wins against FAU, two losses against Iowa State and one loss against Missouri.
The tournament came to an end after the Rebels surrendered a seventh inning walk-off to Iowa State to lose the match-up 7-6. Iowa State finished strong, forcing Ole Miss to a loss.
With the previous weekend’s results, Ole Miss now sits with a 4-5 overall record while Iowa State collected four wins and one loss to push their record to 9-1 overall. FAU finished with a 2-8 overall record after the weekend, while Missouri holds a 6-2 record.
During Sunday’s final match against the Cyclones, junior pitcher Savannah Diederich gave up three runs on three hits in 3.1 innings, as she struck out half of the batters that faced her. Behind her were senior pitcher Ava Tillmann and freshman pitcher Aynslie Furbush as they finished throwing 1.2 innings.
During the loss, Ole Miss tied its season-high with 12 hits. In addition, freshman Blaise Biringer tallied two or more hits for the fourth time. The Arizona native was 10-for-18 during the tournament and now leads the Rebels with a seven-game hitting streak.
Senior Abbey Latham collected a season-high after going 3-4 with an RBI, making those three hits the season-high for the senior.
On Saturday, the only win of the day came against FAU, 11-0. Furbush recorded her second grand slam of the tournament against the Owls, making her the fifth Rebel to join teammates Latham as one of the Rebels to hit multiple grand slams in her career. The freshman also recorded a career-high in runs batted in with five.
Senior Jessica Puk also put up a career-high of three walks against the Owls’ pitchers and scored two runs against the Owls on Saturday.
The originally scheduled Alabama State game for Feb. 23 was pushed back due to weather conditions in the Southeast. The rescheduled game will be announced at a later date.
Now, the Rebels will gear up for the Lone Star Invitational in Waco and San Marcos, Texas, on Feb. 26-28. Ole Miss will face off against teams such as UConn, Baylor, Sam Houston, Texas State and Texas. The first match is set for 1 p.m. Friday.
