ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

The Wildcats didn’t have their best stuff when they needed it most.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ pushed Ole Miss to the limit but couldn’t put them away. After forcing a winner-take-all game Sunday, the Wildcats fell to the Rebels 7-3 in the championship game of the NCAA Tournament’s ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Regional.

No. 13 overall seed ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ failed to advance out of the regional round for just the fourth time in 37 tries. It was only the second time the Wildcats failed to advance when hosting in 27 attempts.

“I’m just so incredibly proud of the way our group showed up today,� UA coach Caitlin Lowe said. “They showed up throwing punches from the beginning to the very last out.

“We didn’t get a lot of breaks in the second game. That was tough. At the same time, they just kept going to work.

“A hard-fought battle; a hard, hard regional. Congrats to them. But I couldn’t be more proud of the fight, the grit, all of it.�

Ole Miss is headed to Super Regionals for the third time in program history. The Rebels will face No. 4 overall seed Arkansas in Fayetteville.

“Heck of a day, heck of a tournament,� Ole Miss coach Jamie Trachsel said. “When we met with our team this morning, we said, ‘Just be prepared to be here as long as it takes, if it’s 21 innings, whatever that is.’ I'm really proud of the resiliency we showed and the mentality and the mindset that we had transitioning from Game 1 into Game 2.�

Similar to the first matchup against Ole Miss on Saturday, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ put plenty of runners on base but couldn’t bring enough of them home. Although they went 3 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the Wildcats left 10 runners on base.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s best chance to rally came in the bottom of the sixth. Down by four, the Wildcats loaded the bases with two outs.

Ole Miss went to the bullpen to match up against UA junior catcher Sydney Stewart, who had homered earlier in the game to take the team lead with 20 long balls. Reliever Miali Guachino started the first game Sunday and failed to record an out. The last batter she faced was Stewart, who hit a three-run homer.

In the rematch, Guachino needed just one pitch to retire Stewart, who popped out to shortstop to end the inning.

“My plan was to attack an inside pitch,� Stewart said. “I got an inside pitch out. I was just a little early.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ went down 1-2-3 in the seventh, but all three outs were well-hit — two line drives sandwiching a flyout to the warning track

The top of the first inning was a carbon copy of what happened in Saturday’s game — and not in a good way for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

In the first matchup against the Rebels, the Wildcats committed two errors and allowed four runs in the first. This time, it was one error and four runs. In both instances, Ole Miss batters hit home runs off of Devyn Netz. Matching two-run shots by Aliyah Binford and Mackenzie Pickens put the Rebels up 4-0.

“It was a punch, but we were throwing punches all day,� Lowe said. “A lot of people are going to talk about the (runners) left on base, but we were relentless getting people on and putting pressure on every single inning. Our outs with runners left on base were feisty.

“They were in the right place at the right time a lot of today, and that happens. It's life. You gotta swallow it, you gotta take it on the chin, and you want to do it with a circle like this. Because a circle like this is going to keep you strong and keep you motivated for the future. I'm glad our circle is tight and that we have our people.�

Like the first meeting, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ counterpunched in the bottom of the first. Kaiah Altmeyer knocked in a run with a single; Miranda Stoddard plated another with a walk.

But the Wildcats couldn’t keep the Rebels in the ballpark. Persy Llamas and Binford hit solo homers in the third and fourth, respectively. The latter negated Stewart’s solo shot in the bottom of the third and made the score 7-3.

Netz struggled in both regional starts against Ole Miss. The Big 12 Player of the Year entered the regional with a 2.04 ERA. She allowed 13 runs (eight earned) in seven innings against the Rebels.

Netz couldn’t spot the ball the way she wanted to in some critical situations, and the Rebels made her pay.

“Sometimes a team just has your number,� Netz said while dabbing tears off her cheeks. “That's what it felt like today and yesterday.�

Stoddard, who limited Ole Miss to one run in five innings in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s 10-1 win earlier Sunday, threw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to keep the deficit at four runs.

“We trusted everyone, top to bottom, one through 22, to get the job done,� Lowe said. “Did I think Miranda was gonna have like 10 innings in her or whatever she had? I don't know. You dig a little deeper when it becomes this situation.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ finished the season with a 48-13 record, its most wins since going 48-14 in 2019.