Alabama Softball Falls in Back-and-Forth Series Finale Against Ole Miss

Alabama softball dropped its final game of the weekend series to Ole Miss in heartbreaking fashion, bouncing back from an early deficit to take a lead in the fifth inning only to see the Rebels come back and win in the bottom of the seventh, 5-4.

Alabama (39-13, 11-9 SEC) trailed by three after two innings and cut the Ole Miss (34-17, 8-13 SEC) lead to one in the top of the third on a Marisa Runyon home run before taking a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth on a two-run single by Reagan Dykes. The score remained the same until the seventh inning and, down to its final out, the Rebels drew a walk and took advantage of a three-base error to tie the game and an infield single in the next at-bat ended it as Ole Miss came back to win, 5-4.

Runyon’s home run was part of a 3-4 day at the plate for the Tide, tying a season high in hits for the senior. Elissa Brown went 2-3 in the plate and Dykes drove in two of the Tide’s four runs. Alexis Osorio (19-7) was a tough-luck loser in an otherwise strong outing in the circle, fanning 13 batters in the complete-game effort.

In the bottom of the second, three walks loaded the bases for Ole Miss with one out and Paige McKinney moved everyone up 60 feet with a single up the middle, giving the Rebels the first lead of the game. Courtney Syrett added two more with a long single that bounced off the wall in left field, making it 3-0 before a strikeout and popup ended the inning.

With one on and two out in the top of the third, Marisa Runyon sent a sky-high home run down the right-field line to cut the deficit to one run. Bailey Hemphill seemingly tied it up in the next at-bat with a solo home run, but the home plate umpire deemed that she did not touch home plate on the play, as that ended the inning with Alabama trailing 3-2.

Neither team scored in the fourth but Alabama threatened in the top of the fifth, loading the bases on a hit-by-pitch, single and fielding error with one out in the half-inning. A lineout went for out number two before Reagan Dykes dropped a single into shallow left, scoring two unearned runs to give Alabama a 4-3 lead before the trailing runner was tagged out at third base to end the inning.

The score remained the same heading to the top of the seventh and Alabama couldn’t add to its lead in the top-half of the inning, giving the Rebels three outs to overcome a one-run deficit. A strikeout and popup quickly brought Ole Miss down to its final out but Courtney Syrett drew a two-out walk to turn it back to the top of the order. A grounder to third looked to be the final out but an errant throw allowed the tying runner to score all the way from first and tie the game at 4-4 and put the game-winning run at third base. A high chopper in the next at-bat went as an infield single, allowing the game-winning run to cross the plate and give Ole Miss the 5-4 comeback victory.

Next up, Alabama concludes its regular season with a three-game series against Auburn in Tuscaloosa, starting Friday, May 5 at 7 p.m. CT.