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OKC in Sight: Ole Miss softball one win from first-ever WCWS trip

Ben Garrettby: Ben Garrett05/23/25SpiritBen
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Ole Miss softball is a win away from its first-ever trip to the WCWS (Photo credit: Ole Miss Softball/X)

Ole Miss softball is one win away from its first-ever trip to the College World Series.

The No. 17 Rebels (41-18) are at No. 4 Arkansas (43-13) and playing in a Super Regional for the first time since 2019.

“Proud of the fight we had all day,” Ole Miss head coach Jamie Trachsel said. “Obviously with the game time getting moved up eight hours, that does change things. Proud of how they handled that and kind of pivoted. We were ready to go.”

Two-way star Ailyah Binford got the scoring started with a first-inning home run to set a new single-season program record for RBI (55). She also picked up her fourth save as a pitcher with over 1.2 innings of relief.  

Binford struck out three, walked two and gave up an unearned run in a 9-7 win, the first for Ole Miss in a Super in program history. Binford entered hitting .335 at the plate and holding a 3.77 ERA in 25 appearances in the circle. She hit her 12th home run of the season.

Ole Miss scored all of its runs in the first four innings. The Rebels plated four in a decisive fourth, highlighted by a two-run home run by Ashton Lansdell, who finished with three RBI.

“We have a very special group, and we know that,” Lansdell said. “We’ve known that from the jump. It’s our time to show it.”

The Rebels are one of four unseeded teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament. 

They’re making their ninth consecutive appearance and last weekend handed Arizona its first home Regional loss since 2004. The Wildcats had won 23 straight games in Regional play.

Ole Miss is now 1-5 all-time in Supers.

“Just proud of how we came out and found a way to win, especially to hold them off at the end,” Trachsel said. “We handled the magnitude of the situation and kept it a game of execution.”

The Rebels and Razorbacks are SEC rivals. Ole Miss has won three of the four games played between the teams this season, including its first run-rule win in history over a Top 10 opponent.

Arkansas made a final push in the seventh. 

The Razorbacks put two on with nobody out. 

However, Binford struck out the next two batters she faced, including Bri Ellis, Softball America’s National Player of the Year Bri Ellis. Binford induced a game-ending fly-out to polish off the win.

“Arkansas’ a great team,” Lansdell said. “We did not doubt them for one second. We knew it was going to be a dog fight. They have some really great hitters and pitching, too. We knew we had to take care of business on both sides of the ball. Really just focused and locked in.”

Ole Miss has two chances to punch its ticket to Oklahoma City. The first is Saturday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN or ESPN2.

“That wasn’t our best game, either,” Trachsel said. “But we found a win to win. That’s what winners do.”

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