Mississippi junior Madi Oslas pitches during the softball game between Mississippi and Georgia, Friday, April 10, 2015. (DM Photo | Kayla Beatty)
The Rebels had a solid pitching performance and struck early with five runs in the first three innings as Ole Miss (26-19) defeated Louisville (24-14) by a score of 5-2 Saturday at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
Junior right-hander Madi Osias was named the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week after leading the Rebels through an undefeated week.
Osias tossed her first complete-game shutout of the season on Tuesday afternoon in a victory over Southern Miss in the first game of a doubleheader against the Golden Eagles. She then came out of the bullpen in game two with the Rebels trailing by a run and tossed five scoreless innings, allowing her team the opportunity to rally and complete the doubleheader sweep.
Osias allowed only three hits on the afternoon for Louisville, the fourth-place team in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and an offense that was hitting at a .325 clip going into the weekend.
The junior got the start in Saturday’s contest against Louisville and picked up her third win of the week and 10th win of the season. Osias retired 10 consecutive batters to open the game and 12 of 13 out of the gates through the first four innings. She allowed only two runs, both coming off a home run in the fifth inning, as the Rebels picked up a 5-2 win over the Cardinals.
Ole Miss scored first, pushing two runs home in the first inning to take the early lead on the Cardinals. Freshman outfielder Elantra Cox drew a walk to reach base before stealing second. She then came home on a double down the left field line from her fellow outfielder and sophomore Miranda Strother to get the first run on the board. Shortly after, freshman infielder Alex Schneider hit an infield single to shortstop to put runners at the corners before senior third baseman Allison Brown sent an RBI single through the left side to score Strother and put the Rebels up 2-0.
The Rebels added to the lead in the second inning, pushing two more runs across the plate by taking advantage of miscues by the Cardinals. Sophomore catcher Courtney Syrett opened the inning with a triple before coming home on an illegal pitch. Cox then reached on an infield single, stole second and took third on a groundout to first. She then came home on a wild pitch to give Ole Miss a 4-0 lead after two innings of play.
Thanks to a solo shot down the left field line from Brown in the fourth inning, the Rebels took a 5-0 lead that they held for the remainder of the game.
Alcorn State owns a 2-25 overall record on the season, going 0-10 in Southwest Athletic Conference play. The Braves are currently on a 18-game losing streak and are 0-9 on the road so far this season. They’ll look to get into the win column against the Rebels tonight in the doubleheader.
After the doubleheader, Ole Miss will take on South Carolina in a three-game series starting Friday night at the Ole Miss Softball Complex starting at 6 p.m.
