Mississippi pitcher Emily Boyd (25) releases a pitch during an NCAA college softball game in Oxford, Miss., Tuesday, April 15, 2014. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
The Ole Miss softball team was red-hot Tuesday afternoon at the Ole Miss Softball Complex as it cruised to 18-5 (5) and 13-1 (5) victories in its doubleheader vs. Alcorn State.
The Rebels scored in each of the eight innings it came up to bat, and of the 15 outs recorded in game two Tuesday, 11 came by way of strikeout.
“I really like the way our hitters adjusted to their pitchers,” Ole Miss softball head coach Windy Thees said. “They did a good job of driving the ball to all fields with someone who’s kind of challenging with more off-speed pitches. That was tough in the beginning to get our foot down, but then we really came through and hit the ball hard.
“Carly Hummel obviously did a great job for three innings (in game two), then we put Shelby Jo Fenter in to get an inning of work. We’re trying to work on our pitches and get everybody ready for this weekend. Then Emily Gaitan came in and struck out the side. It was good for all of our pitchers to get some innings, face batters who aren’t ourselves, and I’m proud of them.”
Hummel got the win in game two, striking out six batters among the nine she faced in three innings of work.
Redshirt freshman Alyssa Invergo went 3-3 in game two Tuesday, with three RBIs, two runs scored and a two-run home run, her third of the season. Senior RT Cantillo went 2-3 with four RBIs and three runs scored, while junior Allison Brown went 3-4 with two RBIs.
After scoring one run in the bottom of the first in game two, Ole Miss (22-22) scored four runs on five hits in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. The Rebels then added five runs on seven hits in the third inning and three more runs on two hits in the fourth inning to close out their scoring.
Of the 12 batters who stepped up to bat for Ole Miss, nine batters recorded at least one hit, including five batters who notched multi-hit games.
Ole Miss will now head north to Columbia, Mo., to take on No. 13 Missouri in a two-day, three-game series. It will mark the first time the Rebels have faced Missouri in Columbia. With Easter being Sunday, the two schools will play a doubleheader Friday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. CT, followed by the series finale Saturday at 2 p.m.
