The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Baseball Falls to South Alabama, 8-7
6/21/1999 | Baseball
February 28, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. - Matt Silvey's sacrifice fly to right field plated Dwayne Pugh with the eventual game-winning run in the top of the ninth to lift South Alabama to an 8-7 collegiate baseball victory over Ole Miss on Sunday. With the loss, the Rebels dropped to 6-6. The Jaguars evened their record at 6-6.
Chad Hill and Robert Shelton led the Rebels at the plate. Hill went 3-for-5 with one run scored, while Shelton was a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI and one run scored. Justin Huisman also collected two hits (2-for-5) for Ole Miss. Seth Taylor and Vinnie Hernandez led the South Alabama offense, as both went 3-for-5 at the plate. Taylor drove in three runs, while Hernandez hit his second home run of the season.
Eric Janecek (1-1) picked up the victory for the Jaguars, going six innings and allowing two runs on six hits while striking out three. Tim Merritt picked up the save. Ronnie Goodwin (1-1) suffered the loss for Ole Miss, as he allowed one run on one hit in one-and-a-third innings of work.
The game went into the top of the seventh tied at 5-5 when South Alabama scored a run to break the deadlock. Taylor led off the inning with a single, and after stealing second, he scored on Nick Gretz's double to left center off Goodwin to give the Jaguars a 6-5 lead. After Ole Miss was unable to respond in the bottom of the seventh, South Alabama increased its advantage to 7-5 in the eighth when Tim Merritt singled and later scored on a Taylor single to left field.
The Rebels cut the lead to 7-6 in the bottom of the eighth. Shelton walked, and a Huisman single moved him to second. Adam Brown then took over for Shelton as a pinch runner at second and scored on an Alex Williamson single.
After Pugh's run gave the Jaguars an 8-6 lead in the top of the ninth, Hill led off the Rebel ninth with a double. After a Chad Mead single and a Michael Rosamond walk loaded the bases with one out, Burney Hutchinson flied out to center field, bringing Hill home to cut the lead to 8-7. The Rebels, however, were unable to get the game-tying run.
Ole Miss exploded for four runs in the bottom of the first as the Rebels batted around. The Rebels scored their four runs on three hits. The Jaguars responded with four runs on four hits in the top of the second to tie the contest at 4-4. Each team then scored one run apiece in the third inning, setting up the late-inning dramatic finish.
Ole Miss return to action on Tuesday, Mar. 2 when its travels to Birmingham, Ala., for a 2:05 p.m. contest versus UAB.
South Alabama 8, Ole Miss 7
South Alabama 0 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 -- 8 13 0Ole Miss 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 -- 7 14 2
USA- Aron Andrews, Eric Janecek (2), Tim Merritt (8) and Brad Touchstone;
OM- Ryan Bukvich, Nathan Lyons (2), Ronnie Goodwin (6), Glen Morris (7), Justin Huisman (9) and John Massey;
WP- Janecek (1-1);
LP- Goodwin (1-1);
Save- Merritt;
HR- Vinnie Hernandez
