Rebels Drop Series-Opener With Bulldogs

March 20, 2015

OXFORD, Miss. - A two-out rally in the seventh inning proved to be too much for the Rebels on Friday night as Ole Miss (15-13, 0-7 SEC) fell to No. 24 Mississippi State (22-6, 4-3 SEC) by a score of 8-6 in game one of the weekend series.

Ole Miss held a 6-1 lead going into the final frame, but the Bulldogs scored seven runs to take the lead for the first time on the night in the seventh.

Lauren Lindsey (4-4) suffered the loss for the Rebels, allowing two runs on two hits with a walk in her 0.1 inning of relief work. Lindsey entered the game with the tying run on second and two outs in the seventh inning, relieving starter Madi Osias.

Alexis Silkwood (16-4) picked up the win for the Bulldogs, allowing six runs on 10 hits with four walks and eight strikeouts in her 7.0 innings of work.

"I thought we had energy, excitement and got some big hits tonight," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Smith. "We played great softball most of the night. When you're pitching with a lead like that in the seventh inning you're just trying to get outs and pitch to contact. You can't leave the ball out over the plate as much as you want to and we walked a batter and then that's what happens.

"We're going to keep rolling and that's the beauty of this game is we get to come back out tomorrow and play again," Smith said. "This is a tough one to swallow, but we have a lot to play for and still have a chance to win the series. We just have to be able to finish games. We'll keep working and getting one percent better every day."

Natalie Martinez got the Rebels on the board in the second inning, coming to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. The junior took the 2-2 pitch and drove it into right field, bringing two runs home before she was thrown out at second trying to stretch the single into a double. Ole Miss held the 2-0 lead after the inning, however.

Mississippi State got on the board in the fifth inning with a solo shot to right field from Katie Anne Bailey that cut the lead in half at 2-1 for the Rebels.

The Bulldogs put a second runner on base with a single through the left side, but solid defensive play got the Rebels out of the inning as Elantra Cox slid in to catch a fly ball to left and threw out the runner at first base to double up Mississippi State and end the inning with the one-run lead.

Mississippi State looked to move into the lead in the sixth inning with another rally, this time sparked by a walk of Mackenzie Toler and a double from Amanda Ivy that put two runners in scoring position with one out. Osias got a groundout back to the circle, checking the runners and putting two away before a walk would load the bases.

The two teams played a chess match with Mississippi State sending a pinch hitter to the plate while the Rebels flipped right fielders to add speed to the defense. The Bulldog batter fought off several pitches before Paige McKinney would chase down a foul ball down the right field line to end the rally attempt and leave the bases loaded with the Rebels up 2-1.

Ole Miss would take the lead out to five runs in the sixth inning.

The Rebels got a leadoff single from Schneider and a walk of Allison Brown before Bri Payne delivered an RBI single to get the first run home. Ole Miss would then see Courtney Syrett get hit by a pitch to load the bases as Martinez again came to the plate. Martinez then drove a three-RBI double to the wall in centerfield to give the Rebels a 6-1 lead before Mississippi State would get out of the inning.

The Bulldogs weren't done, however, mounting a rally in the seventh with a three-run shot to right field from Toler that cut the lead to 6-4 with two outs.

A walk and an RBI double to left field cut the lead to one run as the Rebels turned to the bullpen for left-hander Lauren Lindsey.

A hit batter put the next batter on before pinch hitter Morgan Bell drove a double to the wall in right center. The lead run scored, but a fielding error on the relay in allowed a second run to score as the Bulldogs grabbed the 7-6 lead on the Rebels.

A wild pitch capped the rally with a seventh run in the inning before Ole Miss would get a fly ball and end the frame down 8-6.

Ole Miss looked to mount an answering rally in the home half of the seventh, putting two on with one out, but a double play ended the threat of the rally as the Bulldogs grabbed the win in the series opener.

The two teams will return to action at noon on Saturday in a game televised by the SEC Network.

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Team Stats

Natalie Martinez

Alex Schneider

Bri Payne

Miranda Strother

Players Mentioned

Allison Brown

Elantra Cox

Lauren Lindsey

Natalie Martinez

Paige McKinney

Madi Osias

Bri Payne

Courtney Syrett

The University of Mississippi Athletics