Five-Run Third Lifts No. 22 Ole Miss Past BGSU

Thursday, March 9

Oxford, MS

6:00 PM CT

Bowling Green State University

10-12

#22 Ole Miss

18-2

Bowling Green

Ole Miss

March 09, 2017 | Softball

Box Score

Falcons fall, 8-1, in first game of Ole Miss Classic

By: OXFORD, Miss. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

No. 22 Ole Miss scored five times in the third inning Thursday night (March 9), and the Rebels went on to down the Bowling Green State University softball team, 8-1. The game, the opening contest in the Ole Miss Classic, was held at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.

With the win, the Rebels are now 18-2 on the season. Ole Miss has won a school-record 15 consecutive games.

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BGSU (10-12) and Ole Miss were scoreless through two innings, but the home team sent nine batters to the plate in the third, scoring five times. The Rebels scored three more runs in the fourth before the Falcons got on the board in the top of the fifth.

Ole Miss leadoff hitter Elantra Cox, who entered the game ranked eighth in the nation with a .569 batting average, was 4-for-4 in the game. The first through third hitters in the lineup – Cox, Kylan Becker and Ashton Lampton – each scored two runs on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Rebel pitchers Morgan Bruce and Elisha Jahnke combined to allow the Falcons just one run and three hits.

The Falcons had a total of three baserunners against Bruce over the first two innings. Redshirt junior Aspen Searle drew a walk with two outs in the first, and juniors Kayla Gregory and Laine Simmons had back-to-back singles with one down in the second. Gregory's chopper bounced over the head of the third baseman, and the Ole Miss shortstop couldn't field it cleanly near the third-base bag and had no play. Then, Simmons laced a single up the middle.

But, in each case, Bruce kept the Brown and Orange off of the board. With Searle at first in the first, Bruce got an inning-ending strikeout. Then, with one down in the second, she came up with another strikeout, then induced the next batter to pop up to short.

Meanwhile, sophomore Brooke Parker allowed only two baserunners over the first two frames. After Cox singled to begin the home half of the first, Becker's grounder was grabbed by junior second baseman Katee Hinkle near the bag. Hinkle quickly tagged the speedy Cox, then fired to first for a double play. Lampton followed with a single, but sophomore Hannah Giammarino tracked down a fly ball by Alyssa Gonzalez in center to end the inning.

Parker retired the Rebels in order in the second, including a strikeout of Brittany Finney, but Bruce retired BG in the third, allowing just one runner as freshman Kendyl Wheeler reached on an error.

In the home half of the third, though, Kaylee Horton led off with a single through the left side, and with one down, Cox beat out a bunt. Becker reached on an error to load the bases, as Horton crossed in front of a BG fielder just before Becker's grounder got there.

Lampton followed with a single up the middle to score a pair of runs, and after Gonzalez walked to reload the bases, Miranda Strother singled up the middle as well, with her grounder just eluding a diving Searle and rolling into shallow center as two more runs crossed the plate. On the play, Giammarino fired to senior Haley Schrock to cut down pinch-runner Bry Castro attempting to advance from first to third. Finney followed with a sharp single to right, giving Ole Miss a 5-0 lead.

And, the Rebels increased the lead with a two-out rally in the fourth. Cox singled for the third time, and then stole second. Becker followed with a single up the middle, and Cox scored just ahead of a tag attempt by Simmons after Giammarino, who had thrown a runner out at third the previous inning, very nearly threw another out at home. But, Cox was safe on the play, and Lampton followed with a homer to make it an eight-run game.

Jahnke replaced Bruce in the circle to begin the fifth inning, and retired the first two Falcons she faced. With Ole Miss one out away from a run-rule win, Sorgi took a called strike, then four-straight balls for a walk. Sorgi went to second on a wild pitch with Wheeler at the plate. Wheeler worked the count to 3-2, then hit a roller to the right side, beating it out for an infield hit with Sorgi scoring on the play.

Sophomore Meredith Miller, the third Falcon pitcher on the night, had entered the game with the bases loaded in the Rebel fourth and gotten Alex Schneider to hit an inning-ending popup to Schrock at third. In the fifth, she struck out Horton, and after allowing a walk and a Cox single through the left side of the BG infield, Miller whiffed Becker and induced Lampton to hit a foul pop that was grabbed by first baseman Chelsea Raker near the BGSU dugout. Miller surrendered and infield single to lead off the sixth, then retired the next three Ole Miss batters.

But, Jahnke retired the Falcons in order in each of the last two innings. Those six outs included a liner to left-center off the bat of Raker, a ball that Cox tracked down after a lengthy run.

Bruce picked up the win to improve to a perfect 5-0 on the year. She threw 44 of her 71 pitches for strikes, allowing two hits in four scoreless innings. Jahnke allowed a run and a hit over the final three innings.

Parker threw 35 strikes among her 57 pitches before leaving with two outs in the fourth. Miller's 43 total pitches included 28 strikes, as she allowed just two hits and a walk while getting the final seven outs.

"Ole Miss is a strong program and we knew we needed to be fundamentally sound on the field," said Falcon head coach Sarah Willis. "Our defense did not perform behind our starting pitcher as our staff expected, which only prolonged the innings Ole Miss capitalized in. Our defense will adjust for tomorrow's game and for the rest of the weekend.

"Meredith Miller did a great job in relief, keeping a strong offense off balance through the final innings of the game. That is what our staff is looking for from the bullpen."

The Ole Miss Classic continues on Friday (March 10), with BGSU returning to the diamond to face Jackson State. That game is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. locally (1:30 p.m. ET).