Rebels win deciding Game Seven 7-3 to advance to Super Regionals
TUCSON — No. 13 seed Arizona delivered a 10-1 knock down to Mississippi Sunday in the opening game of the Regional Final round at Hillenbrand Stadium but the Rebels got in the knockout punch taking the deciding final game 7-3 to advance to the third Super Regional in program history.
Aliyah Binford hit three home runs on the day to lead Ole Miss. Her solo home run in Game 1 Sunday was the Rebels only run but she homered twice in Game 2 including a two-run 1st inning blast that set the stage for Mississippi’s upset.
The Wildcats lost a Regional at home for the 1st time under the four-team format and just the second time ever (2004).
Big 12 Player of the Year Devyn Netz (22-6) just had no answer for Ole Miss batters. She allowed six home runs to the Rebels in her two starts this weekend. Binford and Mackenzie Pickens both launched 2-run home runs in the 1st inning of Game 7 to put Mississippi up 4-0 at the jump.
Ole Miss starter Brianna Lopez held the Wildcats in check, allowing three runs in 5.2 innings pitched. Miali Guachino came on in relief with the bases loaded and got UA’s Sydney Stewart to pop out to short on the 1st pitch.
Mississippi will face SEC rival Arkansas in the Super Regionals.
OLE MISS POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Arizona made quick work of Ole Miss in Sunday’s opener, winning in by run-rule. Regan Shockey had a pair of RBI, Kaiah Altmeyer smacked a two-run home run and Stewart hit a three-run bomb.
Miranda Stoddard was dynamite in the circle all weekend. She allowed just two earned runs and one walk in 14 innings pitched.
Arizona will not play in the Super Regionals for just the third time since its inception in 2005. UA lost the 2013 Regional at Texas A&M and the Wildcats missed the NCAA Tournament all together in 2023, Lowe’s 2nd season.
Athletic Director Desireé Reed-Francois also has a decision to make about her softball head coach. Lowe will enter the final season of her initial five-year contract in 2025-26. Reed-Francois will need to decide soon whether to extend Lowe or move in a different direction.
Two high profile alumni women’s coaches have departed Arizona since Reed-Francois took office last year. National champion golf coach Laura Ianello left to become the head coach at Texas and Adia Barnes bounced out of Tucson earlier this year to take women’s basketball job at Southern Methodist.
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