No. 21 Ole Miss Tames Tigers

No. 21 Ole Miss never took its foot off the gas, run-ruling Missouri, 12-4, Saturday afternoon in game two to clinch the series over the Tigers.
The Rebels (36-17, 10-13 SEC) pounded out 10 hits and took advantage of seven errors by Missouri (28-25, 6-16 SEC), as every player in the starting lineup reached base at least once. Three players had multi-hit performances and two were responsible for home runs as Ole Miss scored its most runs in SEC play this season.
In the circle, it was sophomore Brittany Finney, who again was efficient allowing only two earned runs off five hits, earning the win to remain perfect at 6-0 on the season. Mizzou sent out three pitchers for the second-straight day, and they surrendered seven runs in front of a struggling defense that committed at least one error in four of the six frames.
Ole Miss quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead two pitches into the contest, before Mizzou tied it up, 1-1, in the home half of the first. They took a 2-1 lead in the second, but it wouldn’t last long as the Rebels tallied 11 runs in the final three innings to seal the victory and series.
Elantra Cox got it all started with a first pitch bunt single, and moved to second on an errant throw. Kylan Becker then stepped in, and on the first pitch, shot a single back up the middle scoring Cox, leading to an early 1-0 lead.
After Finney issued a leadoff walk and gave up a single, a groundout on the infield moved both runners into scoring position, before a ground ball to the right side tied it up, 1-1.
The Tigers took their only lead of the afternoon, 2-1, in the second after a leadoff single, steal, and bad throw down to third on another steal led to a run.
But, Ole Miss didn’t let it last long, as Ashton Lampton started the fourth reaching on an error. Dylinn Stancil then roped a hard single to center, before Paige McKinney beat the infield shift of five infielders for an infield hit. That made way for the Rebels’ first grand slam of 2017 off the bat of Courtney Syrett, putting Ole Miss back in front, 5-2.
It wasn’t all offense, though, as Becker made a highlight play in the home half keeping Mizzou off the board. After a leadoff double, a fly ball went to right and Becker snagged it, before firing in a laser to third cutting down the runner trying to advance.
The Rebels kept the gears turning again in the fifth after Sarah Van Schaik drew a 1-out walk, before Lampton singled up the middle. Stancil then stepped in and launched a 3-run shot to left, blowing the game open with an 8-2 lead.
Missouri got a run back in its half of the fifth after a leadoff walk, double, and then singled scored one, but Finney worked around it and got two-straight popups on the infield to end the threat.
At the start of the sixth, Mizzou turned to its bullpen in Danielle Baumgartner, who threw four pitches and issued a walk to Syrett, before Parker Conrad replaced her. Cox grounded to third leading to a force out at second, before Becker tripled deep to left field scoring Cox increasing the lead to 9-3. Strother then reached on an error that scored Becker, before Lampton also reached on an infield error. Stancil walked to load the bases, then Kaylee Horton pinch hit and also walked to score Dakota Matiko, making it 11-3 Rebels. McKinney reached safely on the Tigers’ third error of the inning which scored Lampton, making it 12-3 in favor of the road team.
Mizzou went on to score its fourth and final run in the sixth off an RBI single, before the game ended in six innings for Ole Miss’ 11th run-rule victory of the season.
Becker went 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI, and Stancil (2-for-3) and McKinney (2-for-4) had the only two other multi-hit games for the Rebels. Syrett (four RBI) and Stancil (three RBI) accounted for seven of the runs driven in, while Becker added two and Horton had one.

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Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports