Allison Brown (14) bats during the softball game against Alcorn State. (DM Photo | Kayla Beatty)
After a busy week of domination, the Rebels prepare to take on No. 32 ranked opponent South Carolina in a three-game series this weekend at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
The team defeated Alcorn State in back-to-back games Tuesday. They took game one by a score of 18-3 before shutting out the Braves 17-0 in game two.
Senior pitcher Lauren Lindsey picked up the win on the mound in game one with three strikeouts. Freshman Kayla Landwehrmier led the team in game two with five strikeouts.
In game two, Ole Miss had nine hits and only one error. Freshman shortstop Grayce Majam went 3-3 with two RBIs.
In game one alone, the Rebels hit three home runs including a grand slam by senior infielder Allison Brown. This was Brown’s seventh home run of the season. 10 players on the Ole Miss team have home runs this season.
Brown was also named SEC player of the week after the three-game sweep of Arkansas last week. She hit .778 for the week with four runs and four RBIs. Junior pitcher Madi Osias also picked up all three wins from the mound last week against Arkansas and was named SEC Pitcher of the Week.
This is the first time the Rebels have had two weekly honors in a season since 2009. It is only the third time ever in Ole Miss softball history.
This three-game win was the first time Ole Miss has swept a series with an SEC opponent since they beat South Carolina in 2012, and they are looking to do the same this weekend.
The Rebels are now 28-19 on the season and are picking up momentum heading into postseason play. In head coach Mike Smith’s first season at Ole Miss, they are just two wins shy of the most in school history, which was set in 2005 with a total of 30.
Although this week’s wins were well-earned and worth celebrating, the Rebels cannot afford to play these next games against South Carolina at the same pace.
The Rebels need to focus on executing their fundamentals and playing the game their way without careless errors.
“We didn’t base run as well as we should have, but sometimes that happens when you get in a lull and the atmosphere wasn’t the same as an SEC weekend,” Smith said. “We’re going to see something totally different this weekend and we have to change our mindset for going back into the weekend.”
South Carolina is 32-17 for the season thus far including wins over top-ranked teams Tennessee and Kentucky. They have six games left in their regular season: three against Ole Miss and three against in-state rival Mississippi State.
This weekend’s series will begin Friday night at 6 p.m. This will close the home portion of the season for the Rebels, who will then finish off the last four games of their regular season play on the road against Mississippi Valley State and Texas A&M.
