The University of Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, March 30
Oxford, Miss.
1 PM
Ole Miss
23-9, 4-3
8
vs
4
#6 Florida
29-7, 2-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Florida
0
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
4
7
3
Ole Miss
1
0
2
0
0
0
1
4
8
8
1
Abbey Latham's Grand Slam Walks Off No. 6 Gators in Extras
3/30/2019 | Softball
Sophomore Gets the Better of Florida’s Barnhill, Sets Up Sunday Rubber Match
OXFORD, Miss. – Facing one of the most dominant pitchers the nation has to offer, Abbey Latham took the biggest swing of her life on Saturday, crushing a walk off grand slam in extra innings to give No. 22 Ole Miss (23-9, 4-3 SEC) an 8-4 victory over No. 6 Florida (29-7, 3-5 SEC) and even the series at a game apiece.
Latham's bomb is the first walk off dinger for the Rebels since Amanda Roth's solo shot against Georgia last season and just the third walk off grand slam in program-history (Lisa Conchos, 2007 and Jennifer Poore, 2001).
Kylan Becker notched two more hits in three at-bats, scoring three times on the day while also delivering an RBI and a walk. Latham finished 2-for-2 with five runs driven in, while Tate Whitley rounded out the Rebels with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run.
Brittany Finney picked up her seventh win of the season, allowing one walk with one strikeout in her lone inning of work. Molly Jacobsen took a no-decision after allowing four runs on seven hits, striking out nine.
Things got off to a rocky start for Ole Miss as back-to-back singles to lead off the game and a one-out single loaded the bases. However, Jacobsen buckled down and got out of the jam without a run scoring.
The Rebels got the offense rolling early, taking an early lead after one. Becker legged out an infield single out of the leadoff spot, stealing second to move into scoring position. The speedy center fielder moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fielding error by Florida shortstop Sophia Reynoso.
After Jacobsen again stranded a runner at 3rd in the second, Ole Miss added to its lead in the 3rd. Mikayla Allee was hit by a pitch to lead the inning off and was replaced by Kelsha Loftin, who stole second. Becker came up next and drove an RBI single to right field to bring Loftin in, moving to third on an error. Latham followed with a single to left, bringing in Becker to wrap up scoring for the frame.
With momentum squarely on the Rebels side, the Gators turned the tables and put up a rally in the fifth with a pair of big flies. Jaimie Hoover led off the frame with a solo shot before Kendyl Lindaman cranked her second three-run homer of the weekend to put Florida ahead 4-3.
With a lead in hand, the Gators turned to Kelly Barnhill in the sixth inning to close out the game but Ole Miss would not go quietly. The Rebels loaded the bases with no outs to put pressure on the righty flamethrower but Barnhill was able to strike out the next two to bring Ole Miss down to its final out. However, Autumn Gillespie took the first pitch of her at-bat off her leg and with nowhere to put the Rebel backstop the tying run came home.
After Finney worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, Ole Miss filled the bags once again in the home half, setting up Latham's epic moon shot for the win.
The Rebels and Gators will decide the series on Monday at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. First pitch is scheduled for noon CT.
Quick Hits
• Latham's game-winner is just the 14th grand slam in program-history and only the third walk off grand slam at Ole Miss.
• Latham is the first Rebel to post five RBIs in a game since Sarah Van Schaik drove in five runs against No. 16 Kentucky in 2017.
• Kylan Becker went 2-for-3 at the dish to extend her hitting streak to 10 games, tied for seventh longest in Ole Miss-history.
• Becker is 5-for-9 in the series with three runs scored and three RBIs.
• At 2,375 after two games, the series is closing in on the all-time series attendance record at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. The record was set during the Florida series in 2016, when 3,028 fans packed the stands over three games.
• After playing the first 29 games of the season without going into extra innings, Ole Miss has now played three-consecutive contests past the regulation seven frames.
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.
Latham's bomb is the first walk off dinger for the Rebels since Amanda Roth's solo shot against Georgia last season and just the third walk off grand slam in program-history (Lisa Conchos, 2007 and Jennifer Poore, 2001).
Kylan Becker notched two more hits in three at-bats, scoring three times on the day while also delivering an RBI and a walk. Latham finished 2-for-2 with five runs driven in, while Tate Whitley rounded out the Rebels with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run.
Brittany Finney picked up her seventh win of the season, allowing one walk with one strikeout in her lone inning of work. Molly Jacobsen took a no-decision after allowing four runs on seven hits, striking out nine.
Things got off to a rocky start for Ole Miss as back-to-back singles to lead off the game and a one-out single loaded the bases. However, Jacobsen buckled down and got out of the jam without a run scoring.
The Rebels got the offense rolling early, taking an early lead after one. Becker legged out an infield single out of the leadoff spot, stealing second to move into scoring position. The speedy center fielder moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fielding error by Florida shortstop Sophia Reynoso.
After Jacobsen again stranded a runner at 3rd in the second, Ole Miss added to its lead in the 3rd. Mikayla Allee was hit by a pitch to lead the inning off and was replaced by Kelsha Loftin, who stole second. Becker came up next and drove an RBI single to right field to bring Loftin in, moving to third on an error. Latham followed with a single to left, bringing in Becker to wrap up scoring for the frame.
With momentum squarely on the Rebels side, the Gators turned the tables and put up a rally in the fifth with a pair of big flies. Jaimie Hoover led off the frame with a solo shot before Kendyl Lindaman cranked her second three-run homer of the weekend to put Florida ahead 4-3.
With a lead in hand, the Gators turned to Kelly Barnhill in the sixth inning to close out the game but Ole Miss would not go quietly. The Rebels loaded the bases with no outs to put pressure on the righty flamethrower but Barnhill was able to strike out the next two to bring Ole Miss down to its final out. However, Autumn Gillespie took the first pitch of her at-bat off her leg and with nowhere to put the Rebel backstop the tying run came home.
After Finney worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, Ole Miss filled the bags once again in the home half, setting up Latham's epic moon shot for the win.
The Rebels and Gators will decide the series on Monday at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. First pitch is scheduled for noon CT.
Quick Hits
• Latham's game-winner is just the 14th grand slam in program-history and only the third walk off grand slam at Ole Miss.
• Latham is the first Rebel to post five RBIs in a game since Sarah Van Schaik drove in five runs against No. 16 Kentucky in 2017.
• Kylan Becker went 2-for-3 at the dish to extend her hitting streak to 10 games, tied for seventh longest in Ole Miss-history.
• Becker is 5-for-9 in the series with three runs scored and three RBIs.
• At 2,375 after two games, the series is closing in on the all-time series attendance record at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. The record was set during the Florida series in 2016, when 3,028 fans packed the stands over three games.
• After playing the first 29 games of the season without going into extra innings, Ole Miss has now played three-consecutive contests past the regulation seven frames.
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 (7-5)
L: Kelly Barnhill (19-4)
Batting:
HR: Kendyl Lindaman 1 ; Jaimie Hoover 1
RBI: Kendyl Lindaman 3 ; Jaimie Hoover 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hannah Adams 1 ; Amanda Lorenz 1 ; Kendyl Lindaman 1 ; Jaimie Hoover 1
Batting:
HR: Latham, Abbey 1
RBI: Becker, Kylan 1 ; Latham, Abbey 5 ; Gillespie, Autumn 2
SH: Becker, Kylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Becker, Kylan 3 ; Latham, Abbey 1 ; Whitley, Tate 1 ; Cooper, Katelin 1 ; Allee, Mikayla 1 ; Loftin, Kelsha 1
SB: Becker, Kylan 1 ; Gillespie, Autumn 1 ; Loftin, Kelsha 1
HBP: Gillespie, Autumn 1 ; Allee, Mikayla 2
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
5
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
SS/2B
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
RHP/1B
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball1B/DP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
3B
/ SoftballOF
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