The Rebel softball team had a big weekend in Mexico, going 3-1 with a win over #3 Oregon, Rutgers, and Texas and a puzzling 6-0 loss to Houston. Overall, it was a great weekend, but consistent hitting was an issue once again.
Ole Miss started things off beating Texas 8-2 with 11 hits. The next day, they lost 6-0 to Houston, only logging five hits. Brittany Finney really struggled on the mound, going just two innings and giving up six hits and three earned runs. Houston went 1-3 on the weekend. Next, the Rebels pounded Rutgers in a 9-1 mercy rule game. Obviously, the bats rebounded to produce 13 hits, with Elantra Cox returning to the lineup after a minor injury kept her out of the first two games.
Oh, and she did this against Oregon.
We will just leave this here... @ElantraCox for the win in the bottom of the 9th #OMG #HottyToddy @OleMissSoftball pic.twitter.com/YlIW4KUf3Q
— OMSP (@OleMissVideo) February 18, 2018
Saturday night, though, was Kaitlin Lee’s. She took over the game, absolutely dominating No. 3 Oregon. The Ducks, who are hitting .402 as a team, went just 4-for-30 at the plate. It’s awesome to see that Lee was able to keep the Ducks off the scoreboard, since the other side had tremendous trouble producing.
The Rebels struck out sixteen times against Oregon. Yes. 16 times. In softball. Granted, Duck pitcher Megan Kleist has a lot of K’s already this season, but Ole Miss will see tough pitching all through conference play and can’t fold like that.
But there are good takeaways too. The Rebels’ top two batters are currently newcomers C Autumn Gillespie (.381) and RF Celeste Wood (.350). Kylan Becker is still rounding into form, seeing her average jump from .200 going into the weekend to .269 leaving it.
The problem is the glaringly bad averages at the end of the lineup in Dylinn Stancil (.111), Brittany Finney (.000 in 15 at bats) and Amanda Roth (.000 in 11 at bats). This team can’t succeed with guaranteed outs anywhere in the lineup.
Your first chance to see the Rebels play in Oxford or on WatchESPN is this weekend at the Red & Blue Classic. Ole Miss plays five games in three days, all in Oxford and all on SECN+. The true test in that tournament will be SIU-Edwardsville, who went 41-13 last season and will face the Rebs twice. The first game starts at 3 PM CT Friday.