Ole Miss Pitching Staff Shines Against In-State Rival

By Anna Tate / Journalism Student

The Ole Miss softball team remains undefeated at home this year after sweeping Mississippi State this past weekend.

Led by stellar pitching and timely hits, the Lady Rebs outscored the Bulldogs 18-1 on the weekend. Head Coach Jamie Trachsel said that it was an all-around team effort to get the sweep.

“We found different ways to win,” Trachsel said. “That’s what good teams do, and I think one of the great complements is that a good team doesn’t beat themselves. They make somebody else beat them.”

One of the biggest keys to the weekend was the performance in the circle by Senior Anna Borgen. Entering into the weekend, she had pitched 24 scoreless innings of work and continued that streak in the first game of the series by holding them to just two hits on the day.

Borgen would appear in the next two games, shut down the bulldog’s threats of scoring, and pick up two saves on three innings of work.

Senior catcher Autumn Gillespie believes that staff is coming into its own and is playing their best in big situations.

“Anna just coming in there and shutting them down with three strikeouts is huge. That’s what we ask for our pitchers is to have teamwork,” Gillespie said. “Every single one of our pitchers has stepped up time and time again. And that’s all we ask of them, is execute their pitch and be good teammates.”

This sweep was the first sweep against an SEC opponent since the 2017 season when the team swept LSU at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.

The team would then lose a hard-fought battle to ranked Arkansas in Fayetville when the team could not develop key plays to keep the Razorbacks at bay in extra innings. The Rebels were swept with scores of 5-1 on Friday, 3-2 (8) on Saturday and Sunday.

Ole Miss Softball’s next home game will be against the 17th ranked Georgia Bulldogs for a three-game series starting on Friday, March 26.