OXFORD, Miss. (April 14, 2026) – The University of North Alabama softball team played its final midweek game of the season on Tuesday, stringing together a seven-inning rally before falling 7-3 at Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.

The Lions (28-12) slipped behind 7-0 at one point, but brought the tying run to the plate before the final out. The seventh inning rally began with a walk to senior Laura Leigh Wheeler and back-to-back singles by junior Bayleigh Rouse and sophomore Holly Merritt.

Merritt's hit scored Wheeler to break up the scoreless drought with nobody out in the seventh. Freshman Karley Moreland also drew a walk to load the bases, forcing a pitching change for the Rebels (27-18) which had rolled with starter Kyra Aycock for 6.0 innings.

This brought up senior Jorja Roberson, who subbed in at left field in the fifth. Her first at-bat brought home pinch runner Katie Davis as she beat out a potential double play. A couple of at-bats later, senior catcher Natalie Shaw drew her team-leading 26th walk to keep the game alive.

This allowed senior Gyvan Hammons to record her second hit of the game in dramatic fashion, singling up the middle to score Merritt to make it 7-3. This brought up junior Briley Dover, the leading hitter, as the tying run. Ole Miss escaped with a force out on a hard-hit ball to third to end the rally. Dover's hit was just inches away from being a potential multi-base hit.

Hammons had a two-hit day with a double down the left field line to go with her seventh-inning single. Hammons used her speed to stretch a single and beat the cut off throw to second. Merritt led the team with three hits, going 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

Dover and Rouse also had hits for the Lions in a seven-hit day.

Ole Miss had just one more hit than the Lions and were led by two homers from Madi George, who broke the freshman single-season home run record for the Rebels.

UNA had solid pitching performances despite the loss, led by 2.2 innings from starter Rylee Tittle with the only runs allowed coming off George's homer in the third. Sophomore Kaylee Snyder went 2.1 innings with three strikeouts, while returning senior Emily Simon made her third appearance of the season and did not allow any earned runs in her inning of work.

Pitchers of Record
W – Kyra Aycock (11-9)
L – Rylee Tittle (2-2)
S – None

COMING UP NEXT

The Lions have nine games remaining in the regular season — all in Atlantic Sun Conference play. The first of those three series comes at home against Austin Peay, starting Saturday at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader.

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.