If it feels like Ole Miss has been living on the hard road for a month, that is because the Rebels basically have. The schedule has not let up, and it will not this weekend either. Not with one of the best programs in the country coming to Oxford for the first time.
No. 4 Oklahoma arrives for a three game series starting Saturday afternoon, and it marks another step in what has quietly become one of the toughest slates in the nation.
Ole Miss owns the third hardest schedule in college softball and the most difficult in the SEC. The Rebels have already seen Alabama and Texas. Now they get the Sooners, who are 29-2 and off to a strong start in their second SEC season.
Ole Miss enters at 20-11 and still searching for its first conference win, but the Rebels have not exactly been easing into league play. This is their third straight top five opponent. It is also the first time Oklahoma has ever played in Oxford, which adds a little extra weight to a series that already had plenty.
The Rebels do have pieces that can make this interesting.
Freshman Madi George continues to look like one of the best young hitters in the league. She is batting .417 with nine home runs and has already drawn 19 walks.
Persy Llamas has been just as steady, hitting .392 with five home runs and a team leading 40 hits. Ole Miss has 39 home runs as a team and is actually ahead of last year’s record setting pace.
Defense will matter, maybe more than anything. Ole Miss is 13-2 when it plays clean and 7-9 when it does not.
Against a lineup like Oklahoma’s, giving away extra chances is a quick way to fall behind.
There are bright spots in SEC play too. Taylor Roman has been one of the most productive hitters in the lineup against top tier pitching. She is hitting .400 with two home runs and six RBI in six conference games, all of them against top four opponents.
The Rebels have handled the road well with an 11-5 mark away from Oxford, but this weekend is a chance to settle in at home and see how they stack up against another national contender.
And there are plenty more tests coming.
Ole Miss still has 15 games left against current top 25 teams, including a series with No. 1 Tennessee.
For now, the focus is on Oklahoma and a chance to finally get some traction in SEC play.
It has been a tough stretch, but the Rebels have shown they can compete.
They just need to put it together for a full weekend, and they will get every opportunity to do that starting Saturday at 2 p.m. on SECN+.
