Ole Miss junior Cassie Reasner hits a home run against LSU last weekend in Baton Rouge. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss junior Cassie Reasner hits a home run against LSU last weekend in Baton Rouge. | Ole Miss Athletics

Power Surge Gives Ole Miss Momentum Entering Southern Miss Matchup

BY Taylor Hodges

Ole Miss gets one last swing at a non‑conference opponent tonight, and it comes with a little extra juice.

Southern Miss is in town, and while this season hasn’t always gone the way the Rebels hoped, beating an in‑state rival tends to make things feel a little lighter.

It’s the final non‑SEC game on the schedule, and it lands at a good time for a team that’s trying to finish strong.

The Rebels sit at 27-21 overall and 2-16 in SEC play, but the offense has finally found a rhythm. They’ve hit 67 home runs this season, tying last year’s program record in 15 fewer games.

They’ve also homered in 11 straight outings, and the ball has been flying even against top‑15 SEC pitching. Eight home runs against Texas A&M. Seven more at LSU. Four in the finale in Baton Rouge alone.

For a team that’s been searching for consistency, the bats have stepped up.

A lot of that starts with freshman slugger Madi George, who has turned the last two weeks into her own personal highlight reel. She broke the single‑season home run record on Sunday and now has 18 on the year. She’s hit eight in her last eight games and is closing in on several other school marks.

She’s not the only one heating up. Cassie Reasner is coming off a historic night at Memphis, where she drove in seven runs and hit two home runs. She’s batting .486 over her last 10 games with five home runs and 11 RBI.

Kennedy Bunker has been steady too, hitting .324 over her last 10 and .400 in the LSU series. Laylonna Applin has reached base in nine straight games.

When Ole Miss avoids defensive mistakes, the results follow. The Rebels are 17-7 when they play clean and 10-14 when they don’t.

Southern Miss arrives at 30-19 and 11-7 in Sun Belt play, sitting in a tie for third in the league. Natalie Poole has built a team that leans on speed, contact and pressure.

They don’t hit many home runs, but they draw walks, steal bases and force defenses to make plays.

Sophomore Hannah Christian leads the way with a .394 average, five home runs, 14 steals and 40 RBI. Carrie Green adds another .333 average and 14 steals.

The Golden Eagles have a strong one-two punch in the circle with Kayla Giardina and freshman Madilyn Graham.

Giardina has thrown 134.2 innings with a 2.55 ERA, while Graham has logged 84.0 innings with a 3.17 ERA. The depth behind them is thin, but those two have carried most of the load.

For Ole Miss, this is a chance to grab a win over a rival, keep the offense rolling and head into the final SEC stretch with something to build on.

It hasn’t been the smoothest season, but a good night at home against Southern Miss would go a long way toward easing some of those frustrations.

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