Softball: Ole Miss Slips by No. 7 Louisiana in NCAA Oxford Regional Title Game

• BOX SCORE (PDF)

OXFORD, Miss. – A seventh-inning rally allowed No. 17 Ole Miss to capture a 5-4 win over No. 7 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball in the NCAA Oxford Regional winner-take-all game and claim the Super Regional berth.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns (52-6) had fought back from an early 3-0 deficit by tying the game with a three-run homer from Raina O’Neal in the fifth inning, then pulled ahead 4-3 in the sixth inning on a bases-loaded wild pitch.
 
The Rebels (41-18) drew even in the seventh inning when Autumn Gillespie executed a squeeze bunt. Two batters later Kaylee Horton slapped a grounder high enough to allow a base runner to score from third base with the game-clinching run.
 
The winner-take-all scenario was set up by Ole Miss with a five-run third inning that resulted in a 5-1 win for the hosts in the opening game of Championship Sunday.
 
Louisiana, regular season and tournament champions of the Sun Belt Conference, saw its 2019 season come to a close one win shy of the first appearance in the Super Regionals since 2016.
 
NOTEWORTHY

• The home run was the 10th of the season for Raina O’Neal, giving her double digits for the second time in her career (had 12 as a freshman at Texas Tech in 2017).
• Julie Rawls picked up her team-high tying 17th multiple-hit game finishing 2-for-4 at the plate. The second tally was a single to lead off the sixth inning which led to her scoring on the wild pitch to give Louisiana the lead.
• Summer Ellyson (39-6, 1.11 ERA) recorded six strikeouts to push her season total to 354. She becomes only the third pitcher in program history to reach 350 strikeouts in a season, joining Brooke Mitchell (524 in 2004) and Jordan Wallace(382 in 2013).
• Louisiana made an appearance on Championship Sunday of an NCAA Regional for the 12th consecutive season and 24th time in 29 overall NCAA Tournament appearances. 

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