Ole Miss didn’t have much time to sit with the sting of the opener. The Rebels dropped a wild 10-9 game to Texas Tech to start their Saturday, then turned around and played like a team that wasn’t ready for its season to end. They beat Boston University 9-4 in the elimination game and earned another shot at the Red Raiders in Sunday’s Lubbock Regional final.
It was a day that showed both sides of this Ole Miss team. The first game had everything but the finish. The Rebels jumped on Texas Tech early, starting with Kennedy Bunker’s leadoff home run and a stretch where Emilee Boyer looked completely in control. She carried a no-hitter into the fifth and had the Red Raiders guessing for most of the afternoon.
The offense backed her up. Rachel Connors came off the bench and delivered a three-run opposite field shot in the fourth to push the lead to 4-0. Mackenzie Pickens added a solo homer in the seventh, and by the time Ryan Starr ripped a two-run double, Ole Miss was sitting on an 8-0 cushion that felt safe.
It wasn’t. Texas Tech stormed back with an eight-run seventh to force extras, and even after Persy Llamas punched in a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth, the Rebels couldn’t close it out. Two walks set the table, and a sacrifice fly ended it 10-9. It was the kind of loss that can take the air out of a team.
But Ole Miss didn’t let it.
The elimination game against Boston University looked like a reset. Llamas singled with two outs in the first, and Madi George followed with a no-doubt swing to center for a 2-0 lead. The Terriers answered with two of their own, but the Rebels kept stacking innings. Llamas homered in the third, George doubled, and Laylonna Applin pushed another run across to make it 5-2.
Boston kept hanging around, trimming the lead to one before Kyra Aycock stepped in and shut the door on a bases loaded jam with back-to-back strikeouts. That moment steadied everything. Ole Miss came right back in the fifth with a Reasner double, a Grisham single and a Connors walk to load the bases. Taylor Malvin brought in a run, and Bunker blew the game open with a three-run homer that stretched it to 9-4.
The Terriers made one last push in the sixth, loading the bases again, but Boyer returned and needed only one pitch to flip the inning with a lineout double play. She struck out two more in the seventh to finish it off and send the Rebels into Sunday.
So Ole Miss gets its rematch. Texas Tech is still the team to beat, and the Rebels will need to win twice to advance, but they showed Saturday they’re not going quietly. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
