The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Tennessee
Ole Miss Softball Rallies From Six Down to Defeat Tennessee
5/3/2003 | Softball
May 3, 2003
Box Score
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss plated seven unanswered runs, including five in the final inning, to rally past Tennessee, 7-6, in game one of the three-game SEC softball series. The Lady Volunteers reversed their fortunes with a 12-2 victory in the late game of the doubleheader.
Down 6-0 in the fourth, the Rebels (19-33, 8-21 SEC) began their comeback with a two-run homer by freshman Rebecca McIntire (2) to trim the deficit to four. DeDe Justice continued the power surge in the seventh inning with a three-run bomb - her 15th of the season - to narrow the gap to 6-5 with three outs to work with.
A Desiree Layman walk and back-to-back singles by McIntire and Phyllis Manley loaded the bases with two outs for Jenny Cox, who provided the heroics with a long two-run, game-winning double over the leftfielder's head.
The six-run deficit tied the largest ever overcome by an Ole Miss squad. It also marked the third time in SEC play that the Rebels have won in their final at-bat.
Senior Lindsay Price (11-12) limited Tennessee (42-23, 13-15 SEC) to one run over the final five frames in registering the win in relief of Dana Brill. UT hurlers Stacey Jennings, Christy Anch and Stephanie Humphrey all saw mound time during the Rebels' five-run seventh inning, and Anch (6-5) was saddled with the loss.
Cox, a junior from Bartlett, Tenn., turned in career highs in hits with three and RBI with two to lead the Rebels, who outhit the Lady Vols, 10-6. McIntire and Manley each collected a pair of baseknocks.
Tennessee rebounded in game two of the twin bill with six runs in the first two innings en route to the 10-run win. The second inning saw the Rebels walk in two runs and Lauren Mattox follow with a two-run single to put UT ahead 6-0 early.
Ole Miss chipped away at the lead with a two-spot in the bottom of the second off back-to-back RBI-singles by Andrea Brahs and Megan Kozar. However the Rebel bats would go cold with only one hit the rest of the way.
The Lady Vols picked up a solo home run by Angela Brewer in the fifth inning and tacked on five more runs in the seventh to securely even the series at 1-1.
Humphrey (17-5) allowed four hits with 11 strikeouts in the complete-game victory, while Leslie Day (5-10) worked all seven innings in defeat.
The rubber match of three-game set is Sunday at noon CST at Ole Miss Softball Complex. The Rebels will be celebrating Senior Day and will honor Price, Manley, Day and Julie Baumann in a pre-game ceremony.
Ole Miss 7, Tennessee 6 (May 03, 2003 at Oxford, Miss.) (Game 1)----------------------------------------------------------------------Tennessee................ 204 000 0 - 6 6 1 (41-23, 12-15 SEC)Ole Miss................... 000 200 5 - 7 10 0 (19-32, 8-20 SEC)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: Tennessee - Jennings; Anch(7); S. Humphrey(7). Ole Miss - Brill; Price(3).Win-Price(11-12) Loss-Anch(6-5) T-2:25 A-231HR: UT - A. Rhinehart (7); UM - Justice (15); McIntire (2).Game notes: Rebels win on Jenny Cox two-run, walk-off double.
Tennessee 12, Ole Miss 2 (May 03, 2003 at Oxford, Miss.) (Game 2)----------------------------------------------------------------------Tennessee............... 240 010 5 - 12 15 0 (42-23, 13-15 SEC)Ole Miss.................. 020 000 0 - 2 4 2 (19-33, 8-21 SEC)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: Tennessee - S. Humphrey. Ole Miss - Day.Win-S. Humphrey(17-6) Loss-Day(5-10) T-2:15 A-215HR: UT - Brewer (7).Game notes: Rubber match is Sunday at noon CST.
