by OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss softball kept its undefeated weekend alive Saturday in two run-rule victories over UTSA in the Ole Miss Classic.
With both victories, the Rebels (13-3) will face Northern Iowa (11-4) Sunday in the Ole Miss Classic Championship game.
Ole Miss once again saw stellar pitching in the circle from its starters, and combined with a 16-run, 26-hit day, run-ruled the Roadrunners 9-1 in six innings in game one, and shutout UTSA 8-0 in game two.
UTSA and Stephen F. Austin will face-off Sunday at 10 a.m. in the losers bracket. Fans not able to make Sunday’s Ole Miss game as always can catch the action on SEC Network+.
See below for full recaps on both of Saturday’s games.
Game One – Ole Miss 9, UTSA 1 (6)
The Rebels posted another impressive offensive output in game one against the Roadrunners, pounding out 15 hits, tied for the most in a game this season.
Hailey Lunderman (Lakota/MBCI) went 3-for-4 at the plate with one RBI, while Courtney Syrett, Bri Payne and Kennedy Cline each added two RBI.
Cline’s first hit of her career in the sixth inning was a big one, as she drove home the game-winning runs in the Rebels’ 9-1 run-rule victory over UTSA.
After both sides traded scoreless frames through three, Ole Miss got on the board in the fourth thanks to a pinch-hit, two RBI triple from Payne scoring Dakota Matiko and Paige McKinney.
The Rebels added four more runs the following frame off a two RBI single from Syrett, before Matiko drove her in and scored in Haley Culley’s at-bat.
After the Roadrunners got a run in the top half of the sixth off a Rebel error, Lunderman drove Kylan Becker home on an RBI single, before Cline’s single right back up the middle ended the contest.
Sophomore Elisha Jahnke was untouchable again in the second start of her Rebel career, going six innings with just four hits allowed and five strikeouts. She improved to 2-0 on the year in the circle and has now allowed just two earned runs in her 18 innings of work on the season.
Game Two – Ole Miss 8, UTSA 0 (5)
Game two had a similar result as senior Madi Osias was lights out in the circle, while the Rebel offense again found its rhythm to shutout the Roadrunners, the team’s fourth shutout of 2016.
Osias helped herself early in the contest when she drilled a 3-run home run to deep left field giving the Rebels a 3-0 advantage.
Elantra Cox posted the first of her two RBI an inning later when she grounded out back to the pitcher scoring Grayce Majam, who reached earlier in the frame via a hit by pitch.
Cox came back in the fourth roping an RBI double to left-center field making it 5-0, before Lunderman’s single through the left side scored Cox to make it 6-0.
The Rebels needed just two runs in the fifth to call it a day, and they did just that thanks to an RBI single from Majam, and a pinch-hit, RBI single right back through the middle from McKinney.
Cox finished the game 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Osias’ three RBI led the way offensively off her home run. As a team Ole Miss pounded out 11 hits, the seventh time this season with a double-digit hit total, improving its team average through 16 contests to .342.
Osias kept the Roadrunners in check all game, allowing just two hits, one walk with eight strikeouts improving to 6-1 on the year.
