Long Ball, Standout Pitching Carries Softball Past Nicholls, South Alabama

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss softball program saw a power surge on Friday, while controlling the circle in a dominant sweep of day one of the Ole Miss Classic at the new Ole Miss Softball Stadium.

The Rebels (15-3, 0-0 SEC) improved their win streak to 10 consecutive games, downing Nicholls (7-10, 0-0 SLC), 5-0 in the opener, before rolling to a 10-1 win in five innings over South Alabama (10-7, 0-0 Sun Belt).

With the win over Nicholls, head coach Jamie Trachsel reached 500 wins in her illustrious career.

GAME ONE | Ole Miss 5, Nicholls 0
Fresh off a two-run home run to open the game against McNeese on Wednesday, Aliyah Binford took the circle in her second appearance in Oxford and shined from the start. Binford generated four groundouts and a strikeout through the first two innings.

After Persy Llamas led off the second inning with a hit-by-pitch and Lexie Brady singled, the Rebels would manufacture a run on a Jamie Mackay sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.

Binford continued her run of form from the opening inning, retiring 17 straight batters and holding the Nicholls offense in check. While the Rebels threatened in the fifth inning, the lead remained at 1-0, until a big sixth inning.

With two outs, Binford singled to kick start the inning. Llamas walked and it brought Brady back to the plate. The Sioux Falls, S.D., native pounded the second pitch she saw into straightaway center field to break the game open at 4-0. Mackenzie Pickens would add on from there, hitting a home run on the very next pitch to left field for a 5-0 lead.

While Nicholls finally got a baserunner in the seventh inning on an error, Binford quickly shut the door, finish off a one-hit masterpiece for the first one-hit shutout by a Rebel since Aynslie Furbush did it against SEMO on Mar. 4, 2023.

GAME TWO | Ole Miss 10, South Alabama 1 (F/5)

The Rebels came out hot against the potent Jaguars lineup and quickly built an advantage. Jaden Pone and Llamas each walked to set up Brady. After hitting a home run in her final at bat of game one, she followed it up with another first-pitch blast that hit halfway up the scoreboard in left center field for a 3-0 lead.

Miali Guachino took the circle for the Rebels and calmly picked up five strikeouts through the first three frames. Her offense continued to support her and extended the lead in the third inning.

Pone singled early in the frame and made her way all the way to third base, while Binford joined her at second on a walk and stolen base. Llamas helped break through from there, notching a two RBI single to make it 5-0. Star Ferguson joined Pone in wreaking havoc on the basepaths after pinch running for Llamas, and forced an errant throw to third on a stolen base, allowing her to come home for a 6-0 lead.

While the Jaguars got a run back in the fourth inning on a wild pitch, the Rebels stifled the rally, as Pone delivered a strike from left field to Mackay at the plate, getting a key second out at home plate, before another Guachino strikeout ended the inning.

The Rebels closed the game out in the fourth, as Tenly Grisham made it to second on an error and Taylor Malvin singled to give Pone an RBI chance. Another error by the Jaguars on a hard-hit grounder by Pone allowed Grisham to come home for a 7-1 lead. With two on, Binford put the game on ice, blasting a three-run home run to left field, making it 10-1.

Guachino finished off the game in the fifth inning, earning her seventh strikeout of the night to put the game away and earn her eighth win of the year.

Ole Miss is back in action on Saturday, facing off against Murray State at 3:30 p.m. CT, before a rematch with Nicholls at 6 p.m. CT. Both games will follow a pair of neutral site games between South Alabama and Murray State at 10:30 a.m., and South Alabama and Nicholls at 1 p.m.

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For all Ole Miss softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball and on Instagram at @olemisssoftball. Also, follow head coach Jamie Trachsel on Twitter at @Jamie_Trachsel.

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Team Stats

Lexie Brady

Jaden Pone

Aliyah Binford

Persy Llamas

The University of Mississippi Athletics