The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
15-11, 0-6
Auburn
29-2, 3-0
Rebels Fall To No. 12 Auburn In Finale
3/16/2015 | Softball
OXFORD, Miss. - The Rebels pushed home a run in the fourth and a run in the sixth, but the visiting Tigers squelched rallies both times as Ole Miss (15-11, 0-6 SEC) fell to No. 12 Auburn (29-2, 3-0 SEC) by a score of 10-2 on Monday in the series finale.
Freshman Paige McKinney paced the Rebel offense at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI against the Tigers, but Ole Miss couldn't keep pace with one of the nation's top offenses in the final game of the series.
Madi Osias (2-6) suffered the loss for the Rebels, allowing seven runs - five of them earned - on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts through 3.2 innings of work.
Rachael Walters (10-0) picked up the win for Auburn, holding the Rebels to two runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts through 5.0 innings of work.
Auburn grabbed the lead in the first inning on a solo home run from Emily Carosone, and took the lead out to 4-0 with a pair of home runs in the third inning.
The Tigers then scored three more runs in the fourth inning, capitalizing on a pair of Rebel errors in the field to extend the lead to seven runs through the top of the fourth.
Ole Miss got on the board in the home half of the fourth inning when McKinney delivered an RBI double to center that scored Lauren Lindsey from third. Lindsey reached with a single to open the inning and moved to second when Alex Schneider was hit by a pitch. A fielder's choice from Courtney Syrett pushed her to third for the McKinney hit that put the Rebels in the scoring column.
Auburn answered with a sac fly in the fifth inning and put two more runs on the board in the sixth to push the lead out to 10-1 before the Rebels would look to put together another rally.
Three consecutive hits from Schneider, Alyssa Invergo and Haley Culley brought a run home for the Rebels and left two runners on base before the Tigers would make a pitching change. Auburn's defense came through from there, getting three consecutive outs to end the inning and grab the victory.
Ole Miss will return to action on Wednesday, hosting Louisiana-Monroe in a single game at 6 p.m. at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. The game is scheduled to be broadcast online through the SEC Network+ digital platform.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rachael Walters (10-0)
L: Osias, Madi (2-6)
Batting:
3B: Tiffany Howard 1 ; Jade Rhodes 1
HR: Emily Carosone 1 ; Branndi Melero 1 ; Haley Fagan 1
RBI: Emily Carosone 2 ; Kasey Cooper 1 ; Branndi Melero 2 ; Haley Fagan 1 ; Jade Rhodes 1 ; Carlee Wallace 1
SF: Emily Carosone 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tiffany Howard 1 ; Emily Carosone 3 ; Kasey Cooper 1 ; Branndi Melero 1 ; Haley Fagan 2 ; Jade Rhodes 1 ; Victoria Draper 1
HBP: Carlee Wallace 1 ; Courtney Shea 1
Batting:
2B: Schneider, Alex 1 ; McKinney, Paige 1
RBI: Culley, Haley 1 ; McKinney, Paige 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lindsey, Lauren 1 ; Schneider, Alex 1
CS: Cox, Elantra 1
HBP: Schneider, Alex 1
