The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Ole Miss Rallies From Early Deficit To Down South Carolina
4/25/2003 | Baseball
April 25, 2003
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OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss broke a seven-game losing streak to South Carolina in Oxford with a 6-5 win over the Gamecocks in the opening game of a three-game Southeastern Conference series Friday night, in front of 2,132 at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field. The win was the first for the Rebels (26-17, 11-8 SEC) at Swayze Field over the Gamecocks (27-16, 9-10 SEC) since April 3, 1994.
With the loss, coupled by Vanderbilt's 7-4 win over Auburn, South Carolina dropped into a first-place tie with the Commodores in the SEC East.
Trailing 6-4, South Carolina loaded the bases in the ninth. Freshman left-hander Stephen Head coaxed Tim Seaton to ground into a double play, allowing Brian Triplett to score to make it 6-5 and put the tying run on third. Pinch-hitter Demetric Smith then hit a deep fly to center that Matt Mossberg hauled in for the final out.
Head went 3-for-4 with two RBI at the plate and also worked two innings of relief, allowing the one run on four hits and one walk to earn his ninth save of the year.
Freshman left-hander Eric Fowler (2-2) pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief of starter T.J. Beam to earn the win.
South Carolina starter Steven Bondurant (4-3) was charged with the loss, allowing five runs on nine hits and three walks in six-plus innings.
Charlie Waite broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh with a two-out single that scored pinch-runner Shawn Yarbrough to give the Rebels a 5-4 lead. The lead was the first game for the Rebels. Waite finished 3-for-4 with an RBI.
South Carolina scored two runs in the first and two in the second to build a 4-0 lead.
Ole Miss plated three runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by Seth Smith's two-run single with the bases loaded, to pull the Rebels within 4-3. Ole Miss tied the game in the fourth on Head's RBI single.
Left fielder Michael Campbell went 3-for-4 and catcher Landon Powell was 2-for-3 with two RBIs as the Gamecocks out-hit the Rebels 16-12 on the evening. South Carolina, however, stranded 14 runners on base.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m., at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field. Junior left-hander David Marchbanks (9-2, 2.22 ERA) is scheduled to start for South Carolina, opposite freshman right-hander Mark Holliman (3-3, 3.47 ERA).
Ole Miss 6, South Carolina 5 (Apr 25, 2003 at Oxford, Miss.)----------------------------------------------------------------------South Carolina 220 000 001 - 5 16 2 (27-16, 9-10 SEC)Ole Miss 030 100 11x - 6 12 0 (26-17, 11-8 SEC)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: South Carolina - Bondurant; Hernandez, C(7). Ole Miss - TJ Beam; Eric Fowler(7);Stephen Head(8).Win-Eric Fowler(2-2) Save-Stephen Head(9) Loss-Bondurant(4-3) T-2:56 A-2132Game notes:NATIONAL RANKINGS: USC- #32 NCBWAUM snaps 7-game losing streak to USC in Oxford; Last win over Gamecocks inOxford was April 3, 1994 ... UM 8-2 vs. SEC East ... Sterbens (UM) 10-gamehit streak ... Game 2 Saturday at 4 p.m. (CDT).Bondurant faced 2 batters in the 7th.Game: UM0425
