Ole Miss sets attendance record, wins first home regional game
For three years, Ole Miss head coach Mike Smith had a running joke with his team about the, “sold out crowd of 21 in the stands.” The irony in that is that Ole Miss had never sold a ticket for softball in school history.
On Friday night in Oxford, for the first home regional game in program history, there were 1,677 in attendance and most of them paid their way into the game.
“That’s pretty cool, isn’t it? Regardless of whether it’s free or if it’s a ticket sale,” said Smith. “Golly, these fans were unbelievable tonight. I’m so proud that I get to wear Ole Miss across my chest and have them cheering for our team. Yelling, ‘Coach Smith’, autographs afterward, screaming and hollering, yelling, ‘Throw it in the dirt’, I was just excited and happy to be a part of Ole Miss.”
The record-setting attendance at the Ole Miss Softball Complex was the highest attended home softball game for a Mississippi school and it took some extra work. The athletic department brought in extra bleachers and placed them in left center and right field to seat around 500 extra fans. Without those bleachers, the stadium usually seats around 1,000. There were even sets of bleachers across the street and the game was being shown on the backboard for those who couldn’t get into the ballpark.
“In Knoxville, the crowd was probably just as big and for some reason, I didn’t feel as nervous,” said sophomore Kylan Becker. “Here, it hit me. I had belly bugs. All these people were here for us and it was just awesome.”
A rain delay in the first game between Arizona State and North Carolina pushed the start time of the Ole Miss and Southern Illinois game from 8:30 to 9:47 p.m. The line just to get in the game was down the street and around the curb. And with the game heading deep into the night, the fans never wavered. In fact, the later it was, the louder the fans were.
The Rebels had a five-run second inning to get the crowd going but it was Becker’s inside-the-park home run in the fifth that provided the loudest cheers.
“We were just trying to get runs,” said Becker who finished 2-3 with five RBI. “We just wanted to get Kaitlin off the mound early.
Kaitlin Lee pitched a gem for not having her best stuff. The SEC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player allowed four hits in her five-inning complete game shutout.
“Luckily for me, my curve ball was on tonight and I don’t think they were looking for that,” said Lee. “I don’t think my stuff was moving phenomenally or that I was pitching my best but I had my stuff and I had what I needed.”
Ole Miss will face Arizona State in the winner’s bracket game Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. CT.
A weekend day game, the perfect time to set another attendance record.
