Rebel Softball Gets 3-2 Win At Mississippi State

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Ole Miss	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	5	3
Mississippi State	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0

Ole Miss

Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. A three-run fourth inning and a solid pitching performance by junior left-hander Tara Willitt helped Ole Miss to a 3-2 win at Mississippi State on Friday night at the MSU Softball Field.

The Rebels improved to 8-7 in Southeastern Conference play, moving a game ahead of Mississippi State after the two squads entered the day tied for fourth in the overall conference standings. Ole Miss improved to 17-22 overall, while the Bulldogs dropped to 24-17.

“We won this game with a stellar pitching performance from Tara and some clutch hitting in the fourth by Mary Jane Callahan, Ashley Dowdy and Amber Tramp,” said Tom McLauchlin, the Rebels’ pitching coach who assumed head coaching responsibilities with Missy Dickerson under the weather. “We came out shaky in the beginning with the cold, but the team came alive in the third. From then on there was no doubt in my mind that this game was ours to take.”

Willitt (7-4) tossed a complete-game three-hitter, allowing two runs both unearned and striking out seven Bulldogs. The Okmulgee, Okla., native tied her career-high win total from the 2005 season with her seventh victory.

Amber Tramp, the Rebels’ freshman catcher, led Ole Miss at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance and two RBI. The Rebels collected five hits in the contest to the Bulldogs’ three.

Mississippi State took an early 2-0 lead on a two-run single through the left side by Katie Cooley in the bottom of the first. The two-strike, two-out hit plated Chelsea Bramlett and Hayle Guess, who had reached by walk and error, respectively.

Ole Miss cut the deficit in half and knocked out Bulldog starter Kelli Miller (10-7) with a walk and back-to-back singles to start off the top of the fourth. After Lauren Grill walked, Mary Jane Callahan singled to left-center and Ashley Dowdy followed with an RBI single to right-center to plate Grill, who scored her team-high 25th run of the year.

The very next batter, Tramp, gave the Rebels a 3-2 lead when she lined a single to left off Sara Hickerson to score Callahan and Dowdy.

Ole Miss bounced back from a 5-2 loss to the Bulldogs last Wednesday at the M&F Fastpitch Classic in Madison, Miss. The Rebels have now won five of the last six contests in the in-state rivalry.

The two squads will finish out the three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday slated to begin at 1 p.m.

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Team Stats

Amber Tramp

Mary Jane Callahan

Ashley Dowdy

Lauren Rowe

The University of Mississippi Athletics