The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
13-6, 0-1
Alabama
16-4, 1-0
Rebels Fall At No. 4 Alabama In SEC Opener
3/6/2015 | Softball
March 6, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Rebels fell behind early and couldn't string together a rally on Friday night as Ole Miss (13-6, 0-1 SEC) fell at No. 4 Alabama (16-4, 1-0 SEC) by a score of 6-0 in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
The Crimson Tide took advantage of a first-inning grand slam to grab the early lead and the Rebels were never able to put together an answering rally in the loss.
Emily Gaitan (8-2) suffered the loss for the Rebels, allowing the four runs on three hits with six walks in 1.2 innings of work. Madi Osias entered the game with the bases loaded in the second and got the Rebels out of the jam, pitching the final 4.1 innings.
Alexis Osorio (6-2) picked up the win for the Crimson Tide, allowing two hits through her 7.0 innings of work with two walks and 11 strikeouts.
"You don't deserve to win when you walk 10 people in a game," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Smith. "They took advantage of us early with the grand slam. That's what happens against good teams like that; they take advantage of your mistakes. That's the reason they won a national championship and are at the top of the SEC. They took advantage of the things we're not doing well right now. We had a game plan going in offensively and we didn't execute it tonight. That's why we're 0-1 in the SEC right now and Alabama is 1-0."
Ole Miss put two men on the first when Allison Brown drew a walk and Miranda Strother was hit by a pitch. The Crimson Tide got out of the jam as Osorio got the next two batters on strikeouts to end the Rebel rally attempt in the first inning.
A walk and an infield single started the home half of the first for the Crimson Tide and Alabama used a sac bunt on the third batter to push both runners into scoring position. A walk then loaded the bases before Marisa Runyan hit a grand slam to right field to give the home team the 4-0 lead.
After a visit to the circle by the Ole Miss skipper, the Crimson Tide got a triple from Danae Hays but Gaitan kept things in check with a pair of groundouts as Alabama held the four-run lead after the first.
The Crimson Tide loaded the bases for the second time in the game with two outs on the board in the second inning and Ole Miss turned to its bullpen for junior Madi Osias in relief of Gaitan. Osias got a strikeout looking to end the inning and send the game into the third.
Alabama capitalized on a prolonged inning in the fourth with a fielding error on a fly ball to right field, loading the bases with one out on the board. Osias got a pair of critical strikeouts of the next two batters, though, to end the inning and keep the deficit to 4-0.
The Rebels got runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth inning as Paige McKinney walked and stole second in the fifth and Strother belted out a one-out triple in the sixth. Ole Miss couldn't capitalize either time, leaving both runners stranded.
The Crimson Tide added to the lead in the sixth when Andrew Hawkins came up with a pinch-hit double to center that brought Runyan home. Runyan reached on a walk in the previous at bat. A single to center from Leona Lafaele, who advanced to second on the throw in from center, put two in scoring position before a sac fly to left from Chaunsey Bell took the lead out to 6-0 for Alabama.
Ole Miss and Alabama will take the field for game two of the series at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday. The contest will be available online through the SEC Network+ digital platform via WatchESPN.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Osorio (6-2)
L: Emily Gaitan (8-2)
Batting:
3B: Strother, Miranda 1
Base Running:
SB: McKinney, Paige 1
HBP: Strother, Miranda 1
Batting:
2B: Hawkins 1
3B: Hays 1
HR: Runyon 1
RBI: Runyon 4 ; Hawkins 1 ; Bell 1
SH: Richard 1 ; Dare 1
SF: Bell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McCleney 1 ; Turner 1 ; Spencer 1 ; Runyon 2 ; Hawkins 1
SB: Spencer 1
