Jason Smith || Sports Editor
The Ole Miss softball team failed to complete the sweep of Mississippi State Sunday, dropping the final game 11-5.
The Rebels used a barrage of hits to take the first two games of the series 6-4, 9-2, but head coach Missy Dickerson said the Rebels suffered from a lack of focus in Sunday’s loss.
“This team is funny,” she said. “They are so talented and they have the ability to beat a lot of people, but when you come out and don’t stay focused through seven innings then teams are going to beat you.”
Ole Miss collected 28 hits over the three-game series and received a strong performance at the plate from Brittany Barnhill.
Barnhill connected for six hits and drove in six runs during the series. She also collected her eighth win of the season pitching 5.1 innings in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Dickerson moved Barnhill behind Lauren Grill to provide the Rebels’ slugger with more protection in the lineup.
“We put her behind Grill because she has been doing a good job and protecting her for the most part,” Dickerson said. “She comes up in key situation and gets the hits that we need and done a good job for us,” she said.
The Rebels (18-13, 5-5 SEC) will look to rebound from Sunday’s loss and generate momentum from the series victory heading into games against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders and Tennessee Volunteers later in the week.
Dickerson said she hopes the Rebels use Sunday’s loss and failure to capture the sweep of their in-state rivals as motivation.
“We won the series, which is nice, but I would have preferred to have the sweep,” she said. “Our goal this week is to get our focus and A-game back because we have a tough series with Tennessee.”
