Ole Miss Softball Splits Doubleheader on Opening Day
TROY, Ala. – It did not take Ole Miss long to find offensive production as the Rebels won their season opener, 8-2, over UAB at the Trojan Classic.
Ole Miss scored five runs in the second inning, highlighted by a double by Jessica Puk. Puk later added a home run and finished the game 2-for-4 at the plate while driving in a pair of runs and scoring three times herself.
Leadoff batter Tate Whitley also had a pair of hits for the Rebels. Mikayla Allee also doubled in the win.
Savannah Diederich picked up her first win on the year striking out five Blazers in 4 1/3 innings of work. Ava Tillman came on to finish the game striking out six in 2 2/3 innings.
Ole Miss drops game two to Troy
The Rebels’ second game of the day did not turn out as well. The host Trojans beat Ole Miss 5-2.
Puk once again got the Rebels off to a good start. In the top of the third inning, she laced a ball into left field that the Trojans misplayed. The error allowed Whitley to score and give Ole Miss a 1-0 advantage.
Troy took the lead, 2-1, in the bottom of the inning and then scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
Abbey Latham slammed her first home run of the season to provide the Rebels’ other run. Gabby Alvarez went 2-for-2 at the plate and also drew a walk.
Tillman absorbed the loss after surrendering four runs in four innings in the circle. Anna Borgen finished the game giving up three hits in her two innings of work.
Ole Miss is scheduled to play Belmont Saturday at 9 a.m. with another game to follow later in the day.
(Feature image credit: Ole Miss Athletics)
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
