The Ole Miss softball team is coming off a dominating five-game weekend sweep at the Hatter Invitational before its home opener on Wednesday.
The Rebels opened the weekend with a 14-2 win against the Colgate Raiders and then a win over No. 23-ranked South Florida 8-0. Pitchers Kaitlin Lee and Alyssa Clayton gave up two combined earned runs during the win against Florida.
Saturday, the Rebels continued the dominating performance and pushed their win streak to eight games by gaining wins over the Colgate Raiders and the host, the Stetson Hatters.
In the rematch with the Raiders, Brittany Finney made her second career start in the circle and struck out a career high six in the victory.
Lee took over in the circle at the beginning of the sixth allowing just one hit and striking out two. The Rebels topped the Raiders once again in a dominating 8-2 fashion.
In game two against Stetson, Morgan Bruce dominated and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, finishing the game with just three hits overall in their 3-0 win.
“They were hitting ground balls all day, and that was really the goal,” Bruce said. “My defense was behind me all the way, especially in the last inning.”
The Hatters had two runners in position, but with a team effort, those runners were not able to score. For the Rebels, it wasn’t until the fourth inning that they were able to put the only three runs of the game on the board.
Miranda Strother got her second home run of 2017 over the weekend giving a 3-shot run in the fifth inning. Strother feels like the team is on a roll right now and the confidence in each other is very high.
Finishing tournaments with multiple wins and high-scoring games are some of the reasons for the high confidence the players are beginning to have in each other.
“I think our team right is vibing to the energy,” Strother said. “Any one of us could go up to bat and we know that they are going to do well. There’s no stopping us right now.”
Although the Rebels have been playing away for the past three weekends, Strother said she thinks this confidence will roll into the upcoming games they have scheduled at home.
“If we can beat them while we are away, there’s no reason why we can’t beat them while we are at home,” Strother said. “I’m really excited to see what we do on our own turf, and being able to have our fans and our atmosphere, there’s no reason we shouldn’t win.”
Ole Miss will host its first home slate versus Louisiana Tech on Wednesday. Following the Wednesday game, the Rebels will play two straight home tournaments, the Red and Blue Classic Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Oxford.
