The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friday, March 15
Oxford, Miss.
6 PM
Ole Miss
18-7
15
vs
2
Samford
9-19
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Samford
1
0
0
1
0
2
5
1
Ole Miss
4
2
4
5
X
15
13
0
Softball Hammers Samford, 15-2
3/15/2019 | Softball
Box Score<i class="icon-stats"></i> Box Score (PDF)<i class="icon-video"></i> Highlights<i class="icon-camera"></i> Photos
Rebels Rack Up 13 Hits in Run Rule Win Over Bulldogs
OXFORD, Miss. – In Friday night's non-conference showdown, Samford (9-19) scored first but Ole Miss (18-7) scored often, hanging a crooked number on the board in all four innings at the plate en route to a 15-2 drubbing of the Bulldogs at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
While the late-night air in Oxford drew chilly, the Rebel bats never stopped heating up. Abbey Latham and Autumn Gillespie both enjoyed perfect nights at the plate, with Latham going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored and Gillespie notching a pair of hits and two RBIs in her two at-bats, reaching in all three plate appearances. In all, 10 different Rebels registered a base hit.
In the circle, Brittany Finney secured her fifth win of the season after throwing 4.0 innings. The senior allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, striking out four. Freshman Savannah Diederich tossed the final frame in relief, striking out the side.
The Bulldogs struck first, with leadoff hitter Ashlyn Barnes starting the game with an infield single and later scoring on Madison Couch's double.
That was about as much success as the Bulldogs would find, though, with the Rebels quickly turning the tide. Amanda Roth tied the game with a bases-loaded single to right, moving Ole Miss station-to-station as Latham scored from third. Finney followed with her first career triple, clearing the bags and putting Ole Miss on top 4-1 heading to the second.
Gillespie added two more in the second stanza with a single to center field, plating Latham and Mikayla Allee to move the lead to 6-1.
With Kaylee Horton on third, Tate Whitley slashed a single through the right side, allowing the speedy Rebel right fielder to trot home. After an Allee HBP and a Kylan Becker infield single loaded the bases, Latham cleared them with a double to left-center, putting the Rebs into double-digit scoring.
Samford cut the deficit by one with an unearned run in the fourth but the Rebels got it back and more in the home half. Four walks from Bulldog pitcher Lacey Spear brought one run in for Ole Miss before head coach Mike Smith called upon Gabby Alvarez to pinch hit. Alvarez got a pitch to hit and didn't miss, crushing a grand slam past the left field wall to wrap up scoring for the night.
Diederich came in to close things out and induced three-straight swinging strikeouts from the Bulldogs, bringing the run rule into effect and clinching the win for the Rebels.
Ole Miss returns to the Ole Miss Softball Complex on Saturday for a 4 p.m. showdown with No. 18 Oklahoma State in Oxford. The Cowgirls will face off with Samford first, with that game scheduled for 1 p.m.
Quick Hits
• The Rebels have won four games in a row and 10 of their last 11, winning four games by the run rule in that time.
• The 23 runs scored over the last two games is the most for Ole Miss in consecutive contests since scoring 12 at Houston and 14 against Colgate in 2017.
• Gabby Alvarez's grand slam is the 13th in Ole Miss-history and the first since Courtney Syrett's at Missouri in 2017.
• Savannah Diederich has now struck out 14 batters in just 6.0 innings of work in the circle, holding opponents to a .095 batting average with just two hits surrendered.
For all Ole Miss softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole MissSoftball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16.
While the late-night air in Oxford drew chilly, the Rebel bats never stopped heating up. Abbey Latham and Autumn Gillespie both enjoyed perfect nights at the plate, with Latham going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored and Gillespie notching a pair of hits and two RBIs in her two at-bats, reaching in all three plate appearances. In all, 10 different Rebels registered a base hit.
In the circle, Brittany Finney secured her fifth win of the season after throwing 4.0 innings. The senior allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, striking out four. Freshman Savannah Diederich tossed the final frame in relief, striking out the side.
The Bulldogs struck first, with leadoff hitter Ashlyn Barnes starting the game with an infield single and later scoring on Madison Couch's double.
That was about as much success as the Bulldogs would find, though, with the Rebels quickly turning the tide. Amanda Roth tied the game with a bases-loaded single to right, moving Ole Miss station-to-station as Latham scored from third. Finney followed with her first career triple, clearing the bags and putting Ole Miss on top 4-1 heading to the second.
Gillespie added two more in the second stanza with a single to center field, plating Latham and Mikayla Allee to move the lead to 6-1.
With Kaylee Horton on third, Tate Whitley slashed a single through the right side, allowing the speedy Rebel right fielder to trot home. After an Allee HBP and a Kylan Becker infield single loaded the bases, Latham cleared them with a double to left-center, putting the Rebs into double-digit scoring.
Samford cut the deficit by one with an unearned run in the fourth but the Rebels got it back and more in the home half. Four walks from Bulldog pitcher Lacey Spear brought one run in for Ole Miss before head coach Mike Smith called upon Gabby Alvarez to pinch hit. Alvarez got a pitch to hit and didn't miss, crushing a grand slam past the left field wall to wrap up scoring for the night.
Diederich came in to close things out and induced three-straight swinging strikeouts from the Bulldogs, bringing the run rule into effect and clinching the win for the Rebels.
Ole Miss returns to the Ole Miss Softball Complex on Saturday for a 4 p.m. showdown with No. 18 Oklahoma State in Oxford. The Cowgirls will face off with Samford first, with that game scheduled for 1 p.m.
Quick Hits
• The Rebels have won four games in a row and 10 of their last 11, winning four games by the run rule in that time.
• The 23 runs scored over the last two games is the most for Ole Miss in consecutive contests since scoring 12 at Houston and 14 against Colgate in 2017.
• Gabby Alvarez's grand slam is the 13th in Ole Miss-history and the first since Courtney Syrett's at Missouri in 2017.
• Savannah Diederich has now struck out 14 batters in just 6.0 innings of work in the circle, holding opponents to a .095 batting average with just two hits surrendered.
For all Ole Miss softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole MissSoftball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Finney, Brittany (5-4)
L: Annalyn Yantis (0-5)
Batting:
2B: Madison Couch 1
RBI: Madison Couch 1 ; Kelsey Royalty 1
SH: Maddie Dorsett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ashlyn Barnes 1 ; Madison Couch 1
Batting:
2B: Latham, Abbey 1
3B: Finney, Brittany 1
HR: Alvarez, Gabby 1
RBI: Becker, Kylan 1 ; Latham, Abbey 3 ; Alvarez, Gabby 4 ; Gillespie, Autumn 2 ; Roth, Amanda 1 ; Finney, Brittany 3 ; Whitley, Tate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Becker, Kylan 2 ; Latham, Abbey 2 ; Alvarez, Gabby 1 ; Gillespie, Autumn 1 ; Roth, Amanda 1 ; Horton, Kaylee 3 ; Finney, Brittany 1 ; Whitley, Tate 1 ; Watford, Taylor 1 ; Allee, Mikayla 2
SB: Latham, Abbey 1 ; Horton, Kaylee 2
HBP: Gillespie, Autumn 1 ; Werdann, Izzy 1 ; Allee, Mikayla 2
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
ph/1b
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
4
Players Mentioned
SS/2B
/ Softball1B/DP
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP/1B
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball1B/DP
/ Softball
3B
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
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