The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
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Mississippi State
Mississippi State Evens Series With No. 4 Ole Miss
4/3/2004 | Baseball
April 3, 2004
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Junior right-hander Saunders Ramsey pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn his fourth save of the year, as Mississippi State defeated No. 4 (Collegiate Baseball) Ole Miss 7-5 Saturday afternoon, in front of 4,887 at Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium and even this weekend's three-game Southeastern Conference series. The Rebels (23-4, 6-2 SEC) won last night's series opener 7-1.
The two teams will meet in the rubber-match Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Sophomore left-hander Stephen Head (3-0, 3.21 ERA) is scheduled to draw the start on the mound for Ole Miss, opposite senior right-hander Jeff Lacher (2-3, 5.33 ERA) for Mississippi State (17-9, 3-5 SEC).
Ramsey entered the game with two outs in the top of sixth and Ole Miss had the bases loaded after scoring two runs to pull to within 6-5. Ramsey preserved the one-run lead by coaxing senior left fielder Charlie Babineaux to pop out to first base.
Mississippi State then tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-5 and Ramsey allowed just one hit over the final three innings to close out the win.
Junior right-hander Alan Johnson (1-1) worked 5.1 innings in earning his first win of the season. He was charged with five runs, four earned, on eight hits and three walks. He also struck out four.
Sophomore left-hander Brae Wright (5-1) suffered his first loss of the season, as he was charged with seven runs, five earned, on seven hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings.
Sophomore catcher Craig Tatum and sophomore right fielder Brad Corley hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning to give Mississippi State an early 3-0 lead. Tatum's was a two-run shot to right field, his fourth of the year, to make it 2-0 and Corley followed with his third of the year. The home runs were the first allowed by Wright in 44 1/3 innings this season.
Sophomore left fielder Jeff Butts was also 3-for-3 at the plate for the Bulldogs.
Sophomore DH Brian Pettway went 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs for the Rebels. Pettway put Ole Miss on the scoreboard with a solo home run in the second inning, his second of the year, to make it 3-1. He added an RBI single in the third to tie the game at 3-3.
Junior catcher Barry Gunther went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games, while Babineaux finished 0-for-5 to snap his career-best 11-game hit streak.
Ole Miss out-hit Mississippi State 10-8 on the afternoon, however, the Rebels stranded 10 runners on base.
Mississippi State scored two runs in the fourth to break the 3-3 tie and then scored another in the fifth to make it 6-3.
Mississippi State 7, No. 4 Ole Miss 5 (April 3, 2004 at Starkville, Miss.)----------------------------------------------------------------------Ole Miss............021 002 000 - 5 10 1 (23-4, 6-2)Mississippi State...300 211 00X - 7 8 3 (17-9, 2-6)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: Ole Miss - Brae Wright; A. Cupps(6). Mississippi State - Johnson, A; Dunn(6);Ramsey(6).Win-Johnson, A(1-1) Save-Ramsey(4) Loss-Brae Wright(5-1) T-2:36 A-4887HR UM - B. Pettway (2).HR MSU - Tatum (4); Corley (3).Game: UM0403
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