Ole Miss softball suffers historic collapse, allows 8-run Texas Tech comeback down to final strike
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Unfortunately, Ole Miss softball aided in making NCAA Tournament history on Saturday.
The Rebels, despite leading 8-0 and needing only 1 strike to advance to the Lubbock Regional Final, completely collapsed and allowed Texas Tech to score 8 consecutive runs. Ole Miss then lost in extra innings, 10-9.
According to ESPN Insights, no team this century has won an NCAA Tournament game despite trailing by 8 or more runs at any point in the game. Texas Tech did it with only one out to work with. The record for such instances is 1-640.
Unbelievable:
As you can perhaps read from the graphic above, Ole Miss’s problems stemmed from leaving Emilee Boyer in the game for too long. The standout Ole Miss pitcher threw 6 fantastic innings, but as her pitch count began to grow she started to struggle and gave up 4 runs.
Instead of pulling Boyer, head coach Jamie Trachsel decided to leave her in to finish the job. Boyer finished with 159 pitches and gave up a game-changing Grand Slam with her 153rd, which tied the game at 8.
The game wasn’t over quite yet, however. Ole Miss responded well the following frame, scoring a run off a Persy Llamas RBI single. But after being spooked in the 7th, Ole Miss’s pitching staff struggled once again in the 8th, allowing 2 runs including the walk-off winner from Taylor Pannell:
Ole Miss is still fighting. The Rebels will face one of Boston U or Marist for a chance at a rematch against Texas Tech in the Regional Final.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
