First baseman Persy Llamas
The Ole Miss softball program has lost its first nine SEC games this season. The remedy? The Rebels will spend this weekend at the 4th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols.
But before they leave Oxford for the orange and white pastures of Tennessee, they will step outside of the conference to host the UAB Blazers this evening at 5 p.m. CT in the culmination of what has been a five-game homestand. The contest will be streamed on the SEC Network+.
ON UAB
After a promising start to the campaign, the UAB Blazers enter the weeked at 12-20 and 0-9 in AAC play, having dropped seven straight games. However, second-year head coach Taylor Smartt has the Blazers playing hard, with several close calls along the way and a gutsty win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta prior to the losing streak.
A more contact oriented offense, the Blazers have hit just 10 home runs, but have four starters hitting over .300 on the season. Senior Ashlyn Shirah has been the most dangerous hitter so far, hitting .313 with three home runs and 20 RBI. Junior Hannah Dorsett leads the team at a .321 batting average, while freshman Charlee Bennett is another key part of the lineup, hitting .306 with a team-high six doubles alongside two home runs and 15 RBI.
The rotation doesn’t miss many bats, striking out just 81 over 207.1 combined innings. However, the Blazers have still found tremendous success from its top two arms. Junior lefty Olivia Cummings sees the most action, going 5-6 with a 3.46 ERA (66.2 IP), while senior Caitlin Russell has shined, going 3-5 with a 2.83 ERA (54.1 IP).
Despite the record, the Blazers have been in a number of close games, dropping eight games that were decided by two runs or less and winning five games decided by the same margin. This includes the victory over Georgia Tech, as well as a narrow 3-2 loss to No. 19 South Carolina and six games in AAC play.
CLUBHOUSE NOTES
- Ole Miss hosts UAB to wrap up a five-game home swing, before heading out for five-straight on the road.
- Junior Cassie Reasner enters after a big week in which she hit .500 (5-for-10) over four games with a home run against No. 4 Oklahoma.
- Freshman Madi George has been the breakout star of the season thus far, hitting a sizzling .402 with a team-high nine home runs and 19 walks, while adding 28 RBI through the first 34 games of her career.
- Sophomore Persy Llamas remains hot as well, hitting .378 through the first 34 games with five home runs and 27 RBI. Llamas leads the team with 42 hits and seven doubles.
- The Rebels have hit 40 home runs in 2026, averaging 1.18 home runs per game. The Rebels set a program record last season with 67 home runs in 63 games (1.06 per game).
- Defense has become paramount for the Rebels, who are 13-3 when they don’t make an error, versus 7-11 when making one or more errors.
- Taylor Roman is in the midst of a breakout campaign in SEC play thus far, hitting .304 with two home runs, a double and six RBI in nine games against No. 4 Alabama, No. 2 Texas and No. 4 Oklahoma.
SEC SOFTBALL STANDINGS
| conf | cpct | overall | opct | home | road | neutral | strk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Texas | 6-0 | 1.000 | 28-1 | 0.966 | 15-0 | 7-0 | 6-1 | W26 |
 Oklahoma | 6-0 | 1.000 | 32-2 | 0.941 | 14-0 | 10-1 | 8-1 | W21 |
 Florida | 8-1 | 0.889 | 31-2 | 0.939 | 17-1 | 6-0 | 8-1 | W2 |
 Texas A&M | 5-1 | 0.833 | 23-9 | 0.719 | 14-2 | 2-2 | 7-5 | W4 |
 Alabama | 7-2 | 0.778 | 29-2 | 0.935 | 15-1 | 9-1 | 5-0 | W1 |
 Tennessee | 6-3 | 0.667 | 29-3 | 0.906 | 10-0 | 5-3 | 14-0 | W1 |
 Arkansas | 3-3 | 0.500 | 28-4 | 0.875 | 17-1 | 5-2 | 6-1 | W5 |
 Georgia | 3-3 | 0.500 | 23-8 | 0.742 | 17-5 | 1-2 | 5-1 | W1 |
 LSU | 3-6 | 0.333 | 22-10 | 0.688 | 17-2 | 4-4 | 1-4 | W3 |
 Mississippi State | 2-4 | 0.333 | 29-6 | 0.829 | 14-3 | 7-3 | 8-0 | L1 |
 Auburn | 2-4 | 0.333 | 22-10 | 0.688 | 13-3 | 1-4 | 8-3 | W3 |
 South Carolina | 1-5 | 0.167 | 21-12 | 0.636 | 17-9 | 2-0 | 2-3 | L2 |
 Missouri | 1-5 | 0.167 | 16-18 | 0.471 | 8-4 | 3-6 | 5-8 | W1 |
 Kentucky | 1-8 | 0.111 | 21-12 | 0.636 | 7-3 | 6-7 | 8-2 | W1 |
 Ole Miss | 0-9 | 0.000 | 20-14 | 0.588 | 9-6 | 3-5 | 8-3 | L3 |