The University of Mississippi Athletics
Oxford Regional: Ole Miss 2, Arizona State 0
5/20/2017 | Softball, Blog
After an easy opening game win, the Rebels were locked in a tight one to open the day on Saturday against the two-seed Arizona State. The two pitchers in the circle were in control for most of the game, putting up five frames of scoreless innings to start the contest. In the sixth inning, Ole Miss would break through to advance to Sunday in the Oxford Regional and send Arizona State to the losers bracket.
Key Moment: For five innings, both pitchers Kaitlin Lee and Dale Ryndak traded scoreless innings. Entering the sixth, the two teams had combined for only five hits. In the bottom half of the inning, the Ole Miss offense would give Lee the only runs she would need. Elantra Cox tripled over the right fielder's head to open the inning, and the Rebels wasted no time getting her home. Kylan Becker, who drove in five runs last night, stepped up again with an RBI-triple to break the 0-0 tie. The Rebels weren't done yet, though. With two outs, Miranda Strother laced a double to right to bring in the second run of the inning. Two runs for Kaitlin Lee? Plenty.Â
Player of the Game: Kaitlin Lee. Last night, Ole Miss' ace pitched with a pretty sizable cushion for most of the game in the run-rule victory. Today, she didn't have much room for error in a tight game. She was unfazed. The junior allowed just three hits and never let Arizona State get anything going. In five of her seven innings, she faced only three Arizona State batters. It was another efficient and dominant performance for Lee as she stifled another high-quality opponent. Â
Numbers of the Game: Arizona State didn't have many baserunners. When they did manage one, Lee wasn't allowing anything else. Arizona State only had one hit in just five at-bats with a runner on base. Adding to that, the Sun Devils had only one at-bat and no hits with a runner in scoring position. When Lee recorded the second out in an inning, it was as good as over. Arizona State was 0-for-7 with two outs.
Quotable: "We kept battling," Ole Miss head coach Mike Smith said. "We stayed the course. Every game that we've played this year prepared us for this opportunity. It was a huge throw by Miranda (Strother) at the end. It was a great pitching performance by Kaitlin (Lee), again. I can't say enough about what Elantra (Cox), our catalyst, did at the top with that leadoff triple."
