Gabby Alvarez and former Rebels Kylan Becker, in the first base coaches box, share a smile during Sunday's exhibition action.

Ole Miss made it look easy Sunday afternoon in the softball Rebels' first exhibition action of the fall in front of a crowd of approximately 250 fans.

The Rebels pounded visiting Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College 31-2 in an affair that went a scheduled 10 innings. It was 19-0 before the Bulldogs managed to scratch across a run.

Ole Miss dominated with solid pitching, fielding, hitting and base running.

"Right out of the gate I thought we swung the bats well," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Smith. "We attacked the pitcher. We had that aggressive approach and that's what we've asked them to do this fall is really take an aggressive approach to the plate and attack the first couple of pitches. They did a good job."

The Rebels banged out a total of 29 hits against Mississippi Gulf Coast, including nine extra-base hits and two triples.

"We swung the bats well. We played good defense," said Smith.

About the only area of concern was the eight walks issued collectively by the staff. Savannah Diederich, Ava Tillman, Anna Borgen, Taylor Bachmeyer and Lindsey Johnson each pitched in the contest. The Bulldogs scored both of their runs off the true freshman Bachmeyer.

Diederich, a sophomore who is expected to fill a spot in the starting rotation next season, drew the start for the Rebels in the circle. She allowed two hits over two scoreless innings and recorded all six of her outs via strikeouts. She is throwing consistently in the high 60's and has hit 70 miles per hour on the radar gun.

"That's the Savannah that we know," said Smith. "That's the reason why I recruited her. Last year, the unfortunate thing is, you had two really good horses (Molly Jacobsen and Brittany Finney) and Ava (Tillman) was kind of our third pitcher, and Savannah was on a staff that had some pretty good pitching. We were just trying to find opportune times for her to pitch, and it was tough. But she's going to get an opportunity to be one of those weekend starters.

"She comes out today and strikes out six of her six outs, that's pretty good. That's all you can ask for, if you just go out there and attack the zone."

Smith was pleased with all of his pitching Sunday.

"Everybody pitched well. Bachmeyer kind of got herself in trouble. When she pitched ahead she was good, but when went 2-0 or 3-0 she got herself into trouble. We give up the two runs and it was on six walks in that inning," said Smith.

Absent from Sunday's exhibition was right fielder Kaylee Horton, who is currently in concussion protocol. Left-handed pitcher Molly Jacobsen (shin splints) and first baseman Abbey Latham (wrist) did not participate.

The Rebels' next exhibition action comes on Oct. 6, when Ole Miss hosts UAB and Memphis.

New Additions To The Roster...

Two new walk-on players are trying to earn roster spots with the Rebels this fall. They are Lindsey Johnson, a transfer from William Carey College, and Gabby Donofrio, a former Rutgers commitment. Johnson is a right-handed pitcher, while Donofrio is a middle infielder. Donofrio bats left and throws right.

"Both of them have this entire fall to just kind of show us what they have," said Smith. "If we feel like at the end of fall that they're going to be able to help us in some capacity, they'll probably end up as part of the roster in the spring."