The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
23-18, 5-12
Georgia
34-10, 10-7
Rebels Drop Extra-Inning Contest With No. 12 Georgia
4/11/2015 | Softball
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Rebels pushed five runs home in the seventh inning to force extra-innings, but couldn't find a second rally in the ninth as Ole Miss (23-18, 5-11 SEC) fell to No. 12 Georgia (34-10, 10-7 SEC) by a score of 9-7 in game two of the weekend series.
Ole Miss batted around in the seventh inning, coming up with the five-run rally with two outs to tie the game at seven before the Bulldogs would get out of the inning. Georgia then got a two-run home run in the ninth inning to grab the win as Ole Miss couldn't find a second comeback on the afternoon in the nine-inning loss.
Kayla Landwehrmier (3-1) took her first loss of the season after turning in a solid performance in a season-long 7.0 innings of relief work. She allowed three runs -- two of them earned -- on nine hits with a walk. Landwehrmier entered the game in the third with no outs and the Rebels trailing 5-0 and a runner on base. She then allowed only one run until the ninth when Georgia got the two-run shot.
Chelsea Wilkinson (20-6) made the start, but re-entered the game in the seventh inning and picked up the win in relief work as the Rebels tied the game but Georgia claimed the win in the ninth. Wilkinson allowed one hit, a walk and struck out six in 3.2 innings of work.
"I'm really proud of this team and the fight and resiliency they have shown all season," said head coach Mike Smith. "They fought hard to the end in that game and continued to battle no matter the situation. Georgia did what they had to do to get out to the early lead by capitalizing on some of our miscues and making us pay for mistakes, but I felt like we really won the second half of that game with the runs in the fifth, sixth and then the big seventh inning.
"I can't say enough about the performance from Kayla (Landwehrmier) and how she really shut down a potent offense to allow us the chance to continue to fight and come back in that game," Smith said. "When we play well in all phases of the game, we've shown we can play with anyone and we showed that again today. We're a young team and we're still learning so much about how to play the game and how to dictate the pace of a game, instead of letting the game dictate how much we try to do and forcing us to try to do too much."
Georgia jumped out to the quick 4-0 lead in the first inning, using only two hits but making the Rebels pay for a fielding error, a hit batter and a wild pitch to score the four runs in the inning.
The Bulldogs continued to build on the lead, driving in a single run in the second inning and pushing two more runs across the plate in the third to take the early 7-0 lead on the Rebels.
Ole Miss wouldn't quit, using the solid pitching performance from Landwehrmier and stepping up the defense through the next four innings to chip away at the lead and keep the final result in play.
The Rebels got on the board in the fifth inning as Haley Culley drove in a pinch hitting Danae King with a double down the first base line. King reached with a triple in the previous at bat, hitting for catcher Courtney Syrett, to set up the score on the Culley double.
Ole Miss got a second run in the sixth when Aimilia McDonough came home on a groundout to second from Allison Brown. McDonough entered the game to run for Natalie Martinez who reached on a leadoff walk. Raspo then reached second safely on a fielding error at second before a groundout to first moved her to third for the Brown ground ball.
The Rebels trailed 7-2 heading into the final inning.
With two outs on the board after the first two batters in the inning, the Ole Miss offense found its groove and sent eight more batters to the plate as a part of the five run rally to tie the game and force extra innings.
Back-to-back singles from Culley and Elantra Cox got things started before Jamie Morgan would draw a walk to load the bases. Miranda Strother then delivered an RBI single through the right side before Alex Schneider would send a two-RBI single up the middle to cut the lead to 7-5.
An illegal pitch moved both Strother and Schneider into scoring position before a fielding error at short on a ground ball from Brown brought a run home and cut the lead to one with runners at the corners. Madi Osias then drove a single to left to score Schneider and tie the game before the Bulldogs would get out of the inning.
Ole Miss and Georgia would play a scoreless eighth before the Bulldogs would get the two-run home run from Niaja Griffin to take the lead for good and eventually grab the lead.
The two squads will take the field for the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday in a game broadcast on the SEC Network+ digital platform. Admission to the game is free at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chelsea Wilkinson (20-6)
L: Landwehrmier, Kayla (3-1)
Batting:
2B: Paige Wilson 1 ; Tina Iosefa 1
3B: Paige Wilson 1
HR: Niaja Griffin 1
RBI: Sydni Emanuel 1 ; Paige Wilson 2 ; Niaja Griffin 4 ; Tina Iosefa 1
SH: Paige Wilson 1 ; Katie Browne 1
SF: Sydni Emanuel 1 ; Niaja Griffin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cortni Emanuel 1 ; Alex Hugo 1 ; Anna Swafford 2 ; Paige Wilson 2 ; Niaja Griffin 2 ; Samantha LaZear 1
SB: Anna Swafford 1 ; Niaja Griffin 1
HBP: Sydni Emanuel 1
Batting:
2B: Culley, Haley 1
3B: King, Danae 1
RBI: Strother, Miranda 1 ; Schneider, Alex 2 ; Brown, Allison 1 ; Osias, Madi 1 ; Culley, Haley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cox, Elantra 1 ; McDonough, Aimilia 1 ; Morgan, Jamie 1 ; Strother, Miranda 1 ; Schneider, Alex 1 ; King, Danae 1 ; Culley, Haley 1
SB: Strother, Miranda 1
HBP: Strother, Miranda 1
