Ole Miss downs Arkansas 7-4 to win Super Regional and grab WCWS berth

FAYETTEVILLE – Ole Miss ended the Arkansas softball season on Sunday night with a 7-4 win in a game where both were trying to land their first Women’s College World Series berth

The Rebels (42-19) won game one 9-7 on Friday, but the Razorbacks (44-14) took Saturday’s game 4-0 to force a winner-take-all Sunday contest.

“All of us right now we’re heartbroken,” coach Courtney Deifel said. “Then it’s like, what are all the great things about this group? We’re gonna move that forward and we’re gonna continue to build.

“I’m sure we’re supposed to learn a lesson of how everything happened this weekend and the cards we were dealt. I’m not there yet because this group committed to doing it right.”

Arkansas’ Payton Burnham got the start in the circle, hoping she could recreate the magic she had in her shut-out victory Saturday night, but the first inning couldn’t have gone worse for the Razorbacks. 

She surrendered four runs in the first frame. Right fielder Lair Beautae sent a ball over Center field after Burnham walked the lead-off batter.

Aliyah Binford’s double and Lexie Brady’s single capped the scoring for the Rebels. 

One of the final inning plays had the crowd a little on edge as Brady came barrelling home from third base and took out catcher Kennedy Miller at home.

Miller appeared to be waiting for the throw and was standing at home when Brady slid into her feet and sent Miller to the ground, to the displeasure of the home crowd. Miller was able to reenter the game in the second inning. 

Left fielder Ragian Kramer got a run back for Arkansas, drawing a walk and scoring with the bases loaded, which made it 4-1 after an inning of play. 

Kramer had some kind words for the folks in Kramer’s Korner who have supported her for the last four years in left field.

“Um, I’m just so grateful for all the support that they’ve shown me and this program. They’re going to keep coming out,” Kramer said post-game. “They’ve already made that loud and clear. And I think if you just see the atmosphere that not only them, but the rest of the berm and the fans bring, it’s like, there’s no other place.

“I’ve not been to another school and felt the atmosphere that we have here. It’s a really special place to play and I’m just really grateful that I got to play here for four years because it’s extraordinary and the fans are a big part of that.”

The Razorbacks were again facing Brianna Lopez after knocking her out of the game Saturday night. Lopez gave up singles to Miller and Johnson to set up the subsequent two runs with a walk to Ellis.

Courtney Day came up and delivered with a two-run single. The ball rolled past the outstretched glove of Pickens and into right field, Hogs down 4-2.

Arkansas tacked on another run to pull within a run with an infield single by Kailey Wyckoff, and Short and Ellis scored. 

Left fielder Jayden Pone came in the 4th inning with the bases loaded. Robyn Herron had calmed the base path down and retired six of the previous seven batters before the fourth inning. Herron worked out of the jam to end the threat, but Ole Miss started dialing in on Herron.

In the 5th, three of the first four batters reached base again, and MacKenzie Pickens drove in a run on a single to left field. Kramer came up throwing, but it was a little off-line. The throw was just off-line and sailed.

The crowd was vocal, claiming the runner didn’t touch home, but there was no review. That gave the Rebels a 6-4 lead.

Burnham replaced Herron in the fifth inning, regained control of the circle, and started to hold the Rebel attack at bay. 

The seventh and final frame was the dagger that really put this one out of reach.

Lexie Carter stepped up to the plate and delivered on a 1-0 count with a deep fly that sent the Razorback faithful into serious doubt, given the history of Razorback sports ending on a positive note. 

The Hogs had Kramer, Ellis, and Day up in the bottom of the seventh inning. Undoubtedly, the best possible scenario for the offense is with the meat of the order coming up.

Raigan Kramer came up, and a questionable strike two in the count forced her hand to defend the plate a little more, and she jumped on a pitch that she might have passed on and grounded out. That was not easy for Binford, as Kramer had worked counts deep most of the weekend. 

Ellis was up next, and she made Binford work and drew a walk to set up Day.

Day had been stellar all season after taking a year off from softball , but she struck out looking on a called third strike.

Kailey Wyckoff had an RBI single earlier but struck out on the sixth pitch of the at-bat to seal the game for Ole Miss.