Ole Miss Tops Mississippi State In SEC Softball Tournament

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ole Miss Athletics) – Falling behind 3-0 early, a seven-run fourth inning carried Ole Miss to a 9-3 come-from-behind victory over Mississippi State in the First Round of the 2019 SEC Tournament Thursday afternoon at Davis Diamond.

The big hit of the day came off the bat of Abbey Latham, who’s towering grand slam off the scoreboard in left field not only went down as the game-winning hit, it gave the sophomore 48 RBIs, breaking DeDe Justice’s single-season program-record.

Brittany Finney earned the win out of the bullpen, allowing one run on five hits in five innings of relief, registering three strikeouts. Starter Molly Jacobsen took a no-decision, surrendering three runs in two complete innings.

Things didn’t get off to the greatest of starts for the Rebels, with Mississippi State taking a 3-0 lead in the third off of five-straight singles. Ole Miss was able to get one of the runs back in the home half without the benefit of a hit, with Kelsha Loftin coming home on a passed ball.

With a little bit of momentum behind them, the Rebels completely turned the tables in the fourth. With two runners on, Tate Whitley came through with an RBI single up the middle to cut the deficit to a single run as Kaylee Horton came home. After an HBP loaded the bases, Mikayla Allee drew a walk to tie the game.

Becker delivered an RBI fielder’s choice to push Ole Miss ahead, with Whitley beating the run home. That set the table to Latham’s big knock, with the Rebel first baseman clobbering a Grace Fagan offering to extend the Ole Miss lead to 8-3.

Ole Miss would go on to tack on another run in the sixth as Horton rolled a slow grounder to second to allow Autumn Gillespie plenty of time to come across the plate. Mississippi State got a run back in the seventh but it wasn’t nearly enough, with Ole Miss advancing to a Quarterfinal matchup with four seed Kentucky.

The Rebels and Wildcats will faceoff Friday morning at 10 a.m. CT, with the winner earning a spot in the semifinal round.

Quick Hits
• Ole Miss improves to 6-6 all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 2-0 against Mississippi State.
• Thursday’s win was the first time Ole Miss has ever come from behind to win a game in the SEC Tournament.
• Abbey Latham’s grand slam broke the Ole Miss single season record for RBIs, bringing the sophomore’s season total to 48 runs driven in, breaking DeDe Justice’s record of 45 RBIs in 2003.
• Ole Miss has 15 total grand slams in the history of the program, with three coming this season and two coming from Latham.