OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss softball team has one full week of practice under its belt following two intrasquad games and the first team practice.
“We had a good first week of practice and workouts,” head coach Mike Smith said. “We are much further along this year than we have been at this time the last two seasons, so this excites me. But, we have so much more work to do both as a team and individually. These girls want to win and I know that they will put the time in on their own outside of team practice to improve in every aspect of the game.”
The Rebels hit the field last Friday for their first team instruction of 2016, and followed that with the first intrasquad on Sundayand the second on Wednesday.
In Wednesday’s action, the offense was the highlight as the White team won, 8-6. Fifteen different players tallied a hit in the scheduled 10-inning game, led by multi-hit performances from returners Miranda Strother, Grayce Majam, Elantra Cox, Hailey Lunderman, Ashton Lampton and Paige McKinney, and newcomers Marissa Varrati and Gabby Alvarez.
Varrati was responsible for two RBI off two singles, while Lampton, Alyssa Gonzalez and Alvarez also drove in runs for team White. On the red side, Courtney Syrett had two RBI off a single to right field, while Strother and Kylan Becker finished with one RBI each.
Seven different pitchers saw time in the circle including appearances by newcomers Brittany Finney, Kiriany Hornberger, Morgan Bruce and Kaitlin Lee. Bruce was effective in three innings pitched with just one run allowed off three hits, while Lee gave up four hits and struck out one with no runs allowed.
For team White, Finney went the first three innings with just one run allowed off three hits, while Krista Jacobs worked two innings with a run allowed, and Hornberger finished off the final two innings without surrendering a hit.
The Rebels’ fall slate of games gets underway Oct. 2 as part of Alumni Weekend, as former players and their families will be back in town back for a full weekend of activities. Ole Miss will face off with Meridian Community College Sunday at 1:30 p.m.and take on Delta State at 4 p.m. For the full slate of fall contests, visit the schedule page here.
For all Ole Miss Softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16. Additionally fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.
