No. 17 Rebels set to be tested by red-hot Golden Eagles

The Ole Miss softball team will face the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in a midweek matchup Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Oxford.

Over the weekend, the Rebels seized yet another SEC series win, taking two of three games against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville. The highlight of the weekend was the 21 runs scored by the Rebels in game one — the most the Rebels have ever scored in a conference game.

At the plate, senior Kylan Becker still leads the Rebels with a .438 batting average, seven triples and 26 stolen bases. Other offensive standouts are sophomores Jessica Puk and Amanda Roth, who both had five RBIs apiece in game one of the series against MSU. Puk also leads the Rebels with nine home runs this season.

With the series win, the Rebels moved to 33-12 on the season and No. 3 in the SEC. The Rebels have never finished higher than eighth in league standings in one of the most competitive softball leagues in the country.

Now, the Rebels look to keep their momentum going against the Golden Eagles, currently 28-16 on the season. Of their past six matchups against the Golden Eagles, the Rebels have only lost one game.

The Golden Eagles are currently ranked No. 3 in Conference USA Wester division and are on an 11-game win streak, the longest win streak in the Southern Miss softball program since 2000.

Before taking last weekend off, the Golden Eagles traveled to Lake Charles, Louisiana, and defeated the McNeese State Cowgirls 10-4. Despite getting off to a slow start and falling behind the Cowgirls 3-0 in the first inning, the Golden Eagles’ bats started to heat up in the third and stayed hot for the remainder of the game.

Sophomore Destini Brown had a great performance at the plate for the Golden Eagles, ending the game with four hits, four RBIs, three runs scored, a double, a home run and two stolen bases. Brown’s home run is her seventh of the season, tying former C-USA Player of the Week, Alyssa “Tata” Davis, for the lead in team home runs.

Additionally, senior Sarah Van Schaik hit two doubles against the Cowgirls to put her at 15 this season, the most on the team. As a squad, the Golden Eagles have 65 doubles on the season.

Abby Trahan has had a great deal of success this season in the circle for the Golden Eagles. The junior has only allowed 29 earned runs while striking out 119 batters to give her a 1.38 ERA. Southern Miss has a 2.03 team ERA, which is slightly better than Ole Miss’s team ERA of 2.06.

Tonight’s game at the Ole Miss Softball Complex will start at 6 p.m.