The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
17-13, 2-7
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Mississippi State
22-8, 4-5
Rebels Claim Series With No. 24 Mississippi State
3/21/2015 | Softball
OXFORD, Miss. - Head coach Mike Smith picked up his first Southeastern Conference victory and series win on Saturday as Ole Miss (17-13, 2-7 SEC) took both games of a doubleheader from No. 24 Mississippi State (22-8, 4-5 SEC) to claim the weekend series with the Bulldogs.
The Rebels rallied in extra innings to claim the game-one victory 8-7, scoring on a wild pitch in the ninth inning, before jumping out to an early lead and never looking back in a 14-8 win in game two of the afternoon.
"We swung the bats very well in the series and really squared up a lot of balls," Smith said. "We hadn't been aggressive at the plate the last few series and we wanted to set a new precedent. What can I say about Kayla (Landwehrmier) in that second game? She came into game two of the doubleheader and probably didn't expect to pitch today. We just wanted to throw someone out there they hadn't seen and shake things up from the first two games.
"Kayla has a decent changeup and really kept them off balance," Smith said. "It was a huge win for us and a huge win for her, as a freshman, to come in that situation and beat Mississippi State at home. It's a great overall win for us."
The Rebels' offense came through in clutch situations, tallying 15 two-out RBI on the afternoon and scoring 12-of-14 runs in game two of the doubleheader with two outs.
The series win comes five years to the day from the last series win over the Bulldogs. Ole Miss picked up a series win by sweeping a doubleheader the weekend of March 20-21, 2010, in a series also played in Oxford.
Ole Miss will return to action next weekend in a three-game series on the road at Arkansas.
OLE MISS 8, MISSISSIPPI STATE 7 (GAME ONE - 9 INNINGS)
Ole Miss raced out to a five-run lead on the Bulldogs through the first four innings of play in game one Saturday, only to see the Bulldogs erase the lead and force extra innings with a late rally for the second consecutive game.
This time, the Rebels had different plans for the outcome, answering a Mississippi State rally in the ninth inning that gave the Bulldogs the first lead of the game with one of their own.
After Mississippi State took a 7-6 lead in the ninth, the Rebels countered with an RBI triple from senior Allison Brown to tie the game. With two outs on the board Brown capitalized with a heads up play on ball four to Courtney Syrett as the ball bounced to the backstop and the senior scampered home to give Ole Miss the walk-off win.
Madi Osias (3-7) picked up the win in game one of the doubleheader, working 3.2 innings in relief for the Rebels. She allowed four runs on nine hits with two walks in her time in the circle after entering the game with the tying run on deck and the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
Alexis Silkwood (16-6) suffered the loss for the Bulldogs, allowing two runs on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 2.2 innings of relief work for Mississippi State.
Ole Miss got a two-run home run from freshman Alex Schneider in the first inning of the game to get on the board and added to the lead with RBI in the third from Bri Payne and Lauren Lindsey. A fifth run came home in the fourth inning when Alyssa Invergo scored on a wild pitch and the Rebels moved out in front 5-0.
Mississippi State answered with a four-run sixth inning to get on the board and cut the lead to one, but Ole Miss again answered with an RBI double from Schneider that put the Rebels on top 6-4.
The Bulldogs again found an answer, plating two runs in the ninth to tie the game before moving into extra innings by holding the home team off the board in the home half of the seventh.
The ninth inning saw Mississippi State grab its first lead of the game, only to see the Rebels answer with the two-run frame in the bottom of the ninth to grab the win.
OLE MISS 14, MISSISSIPPI STATE 8 (GAME TWO)
Kayla Landwehrmier (2-0) picked up her first SEC win and second win of the season in game two of the doubleheader, working a career-long 5.0 innings in relief and holding the Bulldogs to three runs - two earned - on 10 hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Silkwood again took the loss for Mississippi State, allowing eight runs - four of them earned - on five hits with three walks in 1.0 inning of work in game two.
Ole Miss wasted no time getting on the board, this time batting around in the first inning and pushing eight runs home to take the early lead on the visiting Bulldogs. Osias hit a three-run home run and freshman Grayce Majam delivered a two-RBI single as a part of the big opening inning.
Elantra Cox capped the frame, driving a double to the wall in right center with two outs and two on. She drove the first run in and a fielding error on the play proved deadly as the trail run scored and Cox used her blazing speed to score on the hit and Bulldog miscue.
The Rebels lead 8-0 after the first.
Mississippi State put together its own rally in the second inning, pushing five runs home to cut the lead to 8-5.
Ole Miss would continue to score in the next two innings, getting a two-RBI double from Payne in the second and a two-run home run from Miranda Strother in the third to take the lead back out to 12-5.
Mississippi State got a long ball of its own in the fourth when Julia Echols drove one over the right field wall to pull the Bulldogs back within five at 12-7.
The Rebels added two more runs in the sixth inning with RBI singles from Natalie Martinez and Invergo that put Ole Miss on the brink of a run-rule victory for the second time in the game. Mississippi State would get out of the inning down only seven runs, however, and send the game into the seventh inning.
The Bulldogs got an eighth run on a two-out RBI single from Caroline Seitz, but Landwehrmier and the Rebels would grab the victory and the series with a foul fly two batters later that ended the game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Landwehrmier, Kayla (2-0)
L: Alexis Silkwood (16-6)
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Batting:
2B: Amanda Ivy 1 ; Alexis Silkwood 1
HR: Julia Echols 1
RBI: Julia Echols 3 ; Caroline Seitz 2 ; Mackenzie Toler 1 ; Katie Anne Bailey 1 ; Loryn Nichols 1
SF: Julia Echols 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Julia Echols 1 ; Morgan Bell 1 ; Alexis Silkwood 1 ; Katie Anne Bailey 1 ; Kayla Winkfield 2 ; Loryn Nichols 2
SB: Kayla Winkfield 1 ; Loryn Nichols 2
HBP: Kayla Winkfield 1
Batting:
2B: Cox, Elantra 1 ; Payne, Bri 1 ; Majam, Grayce 1
HR: Strother, Miranda 1 ; Osias, Madi 1
RBI: Cox, Elantra 1 ; Martinez, Natalie 1 ; Invergo, Alyssa 1 ; Strother, Miranda 2 ; Osias, Madi 3 ; Payne, Bri 2 ; Majam, Grayce 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Cox, Elantra 1 ; Strother, Miranda 3 ; Schneider, Alex 1 ; Osias, Madi 1 ; Brown, Allison 2 ; Payne, Bri 1 ; Culley, Haley 1 ; Syrett, Courtney 1 ; Majam, Grayce 3
SB: Brown, Allison 1
CS: Cox, Elantra 1
HBP: Majam, Grayce 1
