Ole Miss softball a pair of wins away from another Super Regional appearance
Saturday was a marathon day for the Ole Miss softball team but in the late hours a win over Baylor put it closer to its third Super Regional berth in program history.
The Rebels split the second day of the Salt Lake City Regional, falling to No. 15 National Seed Utah 7-1 in the winners’ bracket game to start the day but then rebounding and beat the Bears 9-2 in the final elimination game of the day.
Now Ole Miss (32-27) turns around and takes on the Utes (39-13) for a second time on short rest in the regional final. The Rebels must beat Utah twice on Sunday to advance to next weekend’s Super Regional round.
In the 1-0 game the Rebels were keeping close with Utah until things got away from them with a four-run sixth inning by the Utes broke the game open. Ole Miss was sent to its first elimination game of the regional.
From there Ole Miss sat around for over five hours waiting to play its second game. Baylor and Southern Illinois were in the regional’s first elimination game of the weekend and it took extra innings to decide who would face the Rebels.
Baylor emerged with a 12-9 win over the Salukis in nine innings after the Bears blew a seven-run lead. Southern Illinois scored five runs in the sixth and a pair in the bottom of the seventh to force extras.
Ole Miss was rested and looked as much while the Bears were only 35 minutes removed from its game. The Rebels jumped out for a quick 5-0 lead and held on to it until a four-run bottom of the sixth inning in response to Baylor scoring its first two runs against the Rebels all weekend in the top half of the frame.
Four runs in the first from the Rebels set the pace, including a two-run home run by Keila Kamoku. A three-RBI double by Paige Smith in the sixth inning was the dagger by the Ole Miss.
The Rebels will now take on Utah at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday. in the first game of the Salt Lake City Regional Final.
