Ole Miss softball improved its record to 24-11 on the year after a three game series against SEC opponent Kentucky. The Rebels collected two wins and conceded a hard-fought 1-0 loss. The Wildcats left Oxford with an overall record of 24-8 (5-4 SEC).
The series win marks the first time Ole Miss has defeated Kentucky in a series since 2006. Ole Miss also picked up its first two SEC wins of the season to move to 2-7 in SEC play after being swept by Tennessee in Knoxville last weekend.
In the first game of the series Friday night, Ole Miss consistently dominated Kentucky and picked up a 7-1 win on the back of Sarah Van Schaik’s heroic effort. Van Schaik finished the game with two home runs and five RBIs while going 2-4 at the plate. She’s now accumulated three home runs on the season. Kaitlin Lee pitched a complete game while only giving up one earned run and throwing four strikeouts.
The second match of the series saw the Rebels lose a closely contested match 1-0 to the Wildcats. Ole Miss batters struggled to make contact at the plate, striking out nine times. Kylan Becker and Miranda Strother went 3-3 and 2-2 at the plate, respectively, while the rest of the lineup managed just 2-22 combined. Overall, while the Rebels played a solid defense, a Wildcat run was all it took to seal the deal and win the game.
On Sunday, the Rebels returned to their winning ways and picked up a 4-0 series clinching victory thanks, in large part, to competent hitting and strong pitching. Lee threw another complete game shutout on Sunday; the ace gave up just five hits and struck out two batters while picking up her eighth win of the year. Becker went 3-4 with a bat in her hand and managed to steal yet another base, her 11th of the season off of 12 attempts.
Becker seemed to hit every pitch that came her way this weekend. She got a base hit on seven out of her 10 plate appearances; her hitting performance throughout the Kentucky series improved her batting average to an impressive .371, which is tied for second on the team with Miranda Strother and only bested by Elantra Cox, who is currently hitting .466 on the season.
Ole Miss has now improved to 2-7 in SEC play, moving it into a direct tie with in-state rival Mississippi State for 10th in the SEC standings. The Rebels now look forward to a contest against Central Arkansas on Tuesday before heading to Auburn for a three-game series next weekend.
