Ole Miss shortstop Mikayla Allee didn’t know the feeling of hitting a home run as a collegiate player.
The freshman stepped into the box in the third inning against two-time All-American pitcher Kelly Barnhill with only five hits all season and a .104 batting average.
All of those struggles at the plate melted away when Allee unleashed on a 2-1 pitch up in the zone. She smacked Barnhill’s offering down the left-field line and well over the wall for her first career home run.
Allee’s solo homer was one of two on Sunday for the No. 22 Rebels, as they defeated the No. 6 Gators 3-1 at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. Ole Miss (24-9, 5-3 SEC) won its first series over UF since 2007, and Florida (29-8, 3-6) lost its third SEC series to start the season.
The first bomb came in the first inning off the bat of Abbey Latham, who also took Barnhill deep for a walk-off grand slam in the eighth inning on Saturday night.
“Give Latham credit,” coach Tim Walton said in a television broadcast. “Two swings in a row, two home runs. She’s done a good job on that rise ball, that’s for sure.”
UF’s ace entered the contest with 17.2 innings and 268 pitches of work in the series. She threw an additional six innings and 84 pitches on Sunday and picked up her fifth loss of the campaign.
The defense behind her wasn’t as reliable as it normally is. Florida came into the weekend leading the nation in fielding percentage but committed two errors in the rubber match and six over all three games.
The Rebels scored their third run on an errant sequence following a Latham strikeout. With center fielder Kylan Becker on first, Latham struck out, and Becker advanced to second on a passed ball. First baseman Amanda Lorenz made a fielding error on the throw from catcher Jordan Roberts, which allowed Becker to scamper all the way home and Latham to run safely to first.
The Gators had a decent day offensively but couldn’t convert on scoring chances. They drew four walks and out-hit Ole Miss seven to four but left 10 runners on base.
Florida scored its only run in the third inning with small ball. Third baseman Hannah Sipos doubled to left-center field, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a single to the shortstop by second baseman Hannah Adams.
UF had runners in scoring position in every subsequent inning, including a bases-loaded opportunity in the fourth, but each threat ended with Roberts or right fielder Danielle Romanello.
Romanello struck out in the fourth and grounded out in the sixth. Roberts, who went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, struck out in the fifth and seventh innings, each time with runners on first and second.
Roberts struck out twice to Molly Jacobsen, who got the save. Jacobsen entered after 4.1 innings from victorious pitcher Brittany Finney and limited Florida to two hits in the final 2.2 innings.
“She’s done a really good job,” Walton said of Jacobsen. “I think there are a lot of teams in this league that are going to have a chance to lose two or three games every weekend, and a lot of teams that have a chance to win two or three games every weekend. It’s a pretty good league.”
Follow Mark Stine on Twitter @mstinejr and contact him at mstine@alligator.org.
Gators catcher Jordan Roberts went 0 for 4 during Florida's 3-1 loss to Ole Miss on Sunday.
