There are days in a softball season that feel routine, and then there are days like Friday — the kind where you look up in the fifth inning, realize you’re watching something special, and start mentally bookmarking the moment. Ole Miss had two of those in the span of a few hours.
The Rebels didn’t just sweep Texas A&M–Corpus Christi and Louisiana. They stacked a no-hitter and a coaching milestone on top of each other, the kind of doubleheader that makes a team’s identity come into focus a little earlier than expected.
Whitten’s no-hitter
Lilly Whitten is only four appearances into her Ole Miss career, but she already pitches like someone who’s been here a while. Nothing about her no-hitter felt fluky or frantic. She just kept getting ground balls, kept getting ahead, and kept letting her defense work. Two double plays in the first two innings will settle anyone in, but Whitten didn’t need much settling.
The offense made sure she could breathe early. Taylor Malvin set the tone, Mackenzie Pickens wore a pitch, and Persy Llamas did what she’s been doing all week — driving in runs like it’s a part-time job. By the time Makenna Bellaire punched a two-run single through in the first inning, the game already felt tilted.
From there, it was one of those games where the scoreboard kept moving but the vibe never changed. Whitten cruised, the lineup kept stacking quality at-bats, and even the chaos moments — like Ryan Starr stealing home — felt like a team leaning into its momentum. When Whitten jogged back out for the sixth to finish the job, it felt inevitable.
A no-hitter in mid-February doesn’t define a season, but it does tell you something about a pitcher’s poise. Whitten has it.
The milestone
Game two could’ve easily been a letdown spot. Instead, Ole Miss opened with a Pickens home run and Kyra Aycock picking up right where Whitten left off — two hitless innings, no fuss.
Louisiana punched back, as good teams do, but the Rebels answered immediately with four straight hits in the fourth. Pickens and Llamas delivered the go-ahead swings, and from there Aycock settled into the kind of rhythm that makes a coach exhale. She gave up two unearned runs all night and retired nine of the next ten hitters she saw. That’s how you protect a lead, and that’s how you make sure a milestone sticks.
Because this was the one that pushed Jamie Trachsel to the top of the Ole Miss record book. Win No. 188. The most in program history. It didn’t come with a dogpile or a dramatic finish, but maybe that’s fitting. Trachsel’s tenure has been defined by steadiness, by building a foundation that doesn’t wobble when the moment gets big.
Friday was a snapshot of that: a no-hitter, a composed comeback, and a coach quietly rewriting the program’s history.
One more shot at Louisiana
Ole Miss gets Louisiana again on Saturday, and the Cajuns will almost certainly look different the second time around. But the Rebels will, too. They just spent an afternoon proving they can win with power, with speed, with pitching, with defense.
