Rebels Drop Series Opener At No. 23 Georgia

March 22, 2013

ATHENS, Ga. - On a cool, cloudy Friday evening in Athens, Ga., the Ole Miss softball team (19-16, 1-6 Southeastern Conference) could not heat up its bats and fell to No. 23 Georgia 6-0 at Jack Turner Stadium.

The Rebels put two runners on base in the third and sixth innings, but could not bring them home in either instance to cut into the Georgia (23-7, 4-0 SEC) lead.

"We went out there pressing just a little bit and they had some great, aggressive swings. That was the biggest thing," Ole Miss softball head coach Windy Thees said. "Once we figured out how to pitch to them we were successful. The biggest thing is that their kids just loaded up and looked for a couple pitches that we threw and really got into it. Our kids hit some balls hard, but we have to be able to find some holes and we have to get a little bit lucky, but we also have to get a little bit better and really drive the ball. We didn't strike out a lot, we just hit a lot of balls at them."

Georgia got on the board in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run to right field by sophomore shortstop Paige Wilson.

Freshman second baseman Melina Preciado reached first on a UGA fielding error in the top of the third, and was pushed to second after junior catcher Marina Parra was subsequently walked. Preciado and Parra would then advance to third and second, respectively, after a sacrifice bunt from freshman shortstop Haley Culley, her second of the season. The Rebels could not bring Preciado and Parra home, however, and remained scoreless going to the bottom half of the inning.

In the bottom of the third, Georgia pushed its lead to 5-0 with three more runs on a pair of solo home runs to right field and an RBI single to left field.

Georgia extended its lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly from starting pitcher Geri Ann Glasco deep to right-center.

Due to inclement weather in the forecast Sunday, the Rebels and Bulldogs will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. CT to close out their three-game series.

For all Ole Miss softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball and on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball.

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Team Stats

Haley Culley

RT Cantillo

Brittany Broome

Allison Brown

Players Mentioned

Haley Culley

Melina Preciado

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