By Jackson Sepko
HottyToddy.com Intern
After winning seven consecutive games and 13 of their last 14 contests, the Ole Miss softball team came in at 15th in the NCAA’s initial RPI report, the highest initial RPI ranking in the program’s history.
After winning just two out of five contests in the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas, the Ole Miss softball team found itself with work to do, as its record slipped close to .500 at 8-6.
Since that point, the Rebels have only lost once in 14 games, a series-opening loss to 14th-ranked Arkansas by a score of 4-10. The Rebels responded to their lone loss since their trip to Texas by routing the Razorbacks with an emphatic 12-0 victory in a five-inning, run-ruled game. The Rebels won the subsequent rubber match 6-2, notching their first SEC series win of the year.
Following a tough loss with a such a decisive victory certainly seems to have boosted the Rebels’ confidence.
After recording a shutout in that 12-0 victory, starting pitcher Molly Jacobsen told SEC Network, “I wasn’t as confident (in yesterday’s loss), but today I decided to have fun and switch my mentality from yesterday and just be positive, and I had a lot of fun with my team out there.”
Confidence renewed, the Rebels have rolled from that point forward, recording seven consecutive wins, including four wins over ranked teams in eight days.
In the Rebels’ rubber match victory, senior outfielder Kylan Becker robbed a Hogs hitter of a sure home run with a leaping catch over the centerfield wall, securing the top spot on SportsCenter’s top plays as the Rebels secured a win in their first SEC series of the year for the first time since 2012.
Last week, the Rebels had a week off from SEC play, but the competition level and the results remained the same, as they took played 18th-ranked Oklahoma State twice and won both games.
Jacobsen performed admirably once again in the Rebels’ first win over the Cowgirls, pitching six shutout innings after giving up a four-run first inning.
In a postgame interview with the team’s Twitter account, @OleMissSoftball, head softball Mike Smith called Jacobsen’s performance, “one of the best games that she’s pitched,” nothing that pitching from behind is something Jacobsen “normally doesn’t have to do.”
In the same interview, Smith also noted of his team’s improvement, “We’re playing good softball right now. Everybody is clicking on all cylinders,” and, “Everybody’s kind of had a piece of this, and it’s been fun to be able to watch this team grow and mature in what we’re trying to do every game.”
The Rebels responded with an even more impressive performance in their second game against the Cowgirls, winning 10-1 in five innings, their second run-ruled victory over a ranked team in a week.
Ole Miss also defeated Memphis and recorded two wins over Samford in their week off from SEC play.
After a productive week, the Rebels landed at 15th in the NCAA’s first RPI rankings of the season.
Oklahoma State, whom the Rebels beat twice, debuted at 13th in the rankings, and the Rebels also already own a win over 12th-ranked Minnesota. The Rebels lost to second-ranked UCLA and twice to fifth-ranked Texas. Arkansas, whom the Rebels beat twice, checks in at 29th.
This experience against highly ranked teams should serve the Rebels well, as they will play three games apiece against three RIP top ten programs in league play: at home against ninth-ranked Florida and tenth-ranked Tennessee and at Kentucky, the seventh-ranked team.
Overall, the Rebels’ SEC opponents have an average RPI of 24.625. The average RPI of the 13 SEC programs is 23, and the league boasts four top-ten RPI teams and six RPI top-15 teams, including Ole Miss.
The Rebels return to action with three games at South Carolina this Saturday (1 p.m., SEC Network +), Sunday (5 p.m., SEC Network) and Monday (6 p.m., SEC Network).
