Ole Miss is a softball school.
The Ole Miss softball team had a season that defied all odds. In short, they were the Cinderella story of the year.
The team built on an impressive 2015-16 campaign in which they finished 43-20 and earned their first ever NCAA tournament bid, where they fell to eventual national champions, the Oklahoma Sooners, in regional play.
The road back to the tourney began with an incredible start to the season for the Rebels, who were 21-3 heading into SEC play. The Rebels found themselves struggling early against SEC opponents, but fought back and finished with a 10-14 SEC record in the regular season.
In the SEC tournament, the Rebels defeated Mississippi State, Florida, Alabama, and finally LSU in the SEC championship game, which earned the program’s first ever SEC conference title and first ever home regional.
Junior pitcher Kaitlin Lee earned tournament MVP for her outstanding play, as she finished with four wins in four complete games and only allowed three runs during the stretch.
“I’ve never coached another player like her,” head coach Mike Smith said. “I don’t know if I’ll coach another one like her ever again. God has blessed her in so many ways and I’m just thankful we have her on our team, that she’s wearing red and blue.”
The hot streak continued into regional play as the Rebels swept the field, defeating Southern Illinois, Arizona State and North Carolina and earning the school’s first super regional in Los Angeles.
Your Rebels beat UNC 7-2 and advance to super regionals!! WE ARE OLE MISS! HYDR! #HottyToddy #RoadtoWCWS pic.twitter.com/bED12EouER
— Ole Miss Softball (@OleMissSoftball) May 21, 2017
The Rebels battled back and forth with the Bruins in game one for their longest game of the season going eleven innings before falling 8-7.
Lee threw 191 pitches in the game and prompted Ole Miss to start pitcher Brittany Finney for the second game on Friday.
“I had a gut feeling today that I was going to go with Finney,” Smith said after the game. “She’s had great outings the last three weeks of the regular season, and we just went with the hot hand.”
The Bruins took an early 1-0 lead over Finney in the opening inning but soon regained their composure and put on an impressive defensive display.
“Today (the defense) came out with such a fire,” Finney said. “I knew that no matter what I was doing, I knew that — I could feel that they would have my back.”
The Rebels could not capitalize at the plate as they failed to put up a run in the second game and were ultimately eliminated by a score of 1-0.
The Rebels said farewell to their decorated senior class of Miranda Strother, Courtney Syrett, Dakota Matiko, and Raven Campos, but look to be right back in the tournament next season with a team led by Lee and Elantra Cox.
“This year was electric,” Smith said. “Nobody thought Ole Miss softball would be relevant, nobody thought we had a shot at going to Oklahoma City.
What these girls and my staff have done is beyond amazing, and I’m so proud. We think we can sit this time next year, at our place, and have a real conversation about going to Oklahoma City.”
Grayson Weir contributed reporting to this story.
