(Photo Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)
SALT LAKE CITY – Ole Miss senior pitcher Carly Hummel threw the first perfect game in school history Monday in a 5-0 win over Utah State. Hummel’s perfect game highlighted a day in which the Rebels split their doubleheader between the Aggies and Utah at Utah Softball Stadium.
“Carly throwing the first perfect game in Ole Miss history was awesome,” Ole Miss head coach Windy Thees said. “She had every pitch working today and the confidence was there, our defense played well behind her, and when you pitch and play defense like that our hitters loosen up and we were able to score some runs. It was a great first game.”
A senior from Bakersfield, Calif., Hummel struck out a career-high 12 batters against Utah State. Hummel’s perfect game marked the fifth no-hitter in school history, and the second no-hitter of her career with the Rebels.
“I haven’t felt like I’ve had a performance this good since before I had my first surgery back in August a year ago,” Hummel said. “It was really good for me, not so much the outcome of the game, but even pitch movement wise and placement. Today was definitely one of my top performances.”
Ole Miss (12-7) lost the second game of the day Monday against home-standing Utah, 6-2.
“In the second game, I really thought Shelby Jo Fenter pitched very well against a very offensive team in Utah,” Thees said. “We made mistakes and gave away some outs by misjudging a few balls, and you just can’t do that against a solid team like that. That’s probably what hurt us the most.
“All in all, it was just great to play. It was hard getting rained out (in San Diego), so we’re really happy and grateful to Utah and Utah State that they were able to make this happen.”
Utah grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third with a two-RBI double to left field.
Ole Miss evened the game a half-inning later with two runs on three hits. Junior third baseman Allison Brown led off the inning with a solo home run just left of center field on the first pitch she saw. Following a single by senior first baseman Londen Ladner and a walk from freshman Courtney Syrett, senior Marina Parra hit an RBI single through the right side to bring home Melina Preciado, who was pinch running for Ladner.
The home-standing Utes then regained the lead in a see-saw battle with three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead.
Utah added one more run in the sixth inning to take a 6-2 lead which proved to be the final score.
Ole Miss will play again Tuesday at 4 and 6 p.m. CT at home against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free ticket to the Ole Miss baseball game vs. Memphis on Wednesday.
