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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Arkansas State
Cupps, Pettway Lead No. 15 Ole Miss Past Arkansas State
2/15/2005 | Baseball
Feb. 15, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. -- Junior left fielder Brian Pettway went 2-for-3 with four RBI, including hitting a three-run home run to cap a six-run fifth inning, as No. 15 (Sports Weekly/ESPN) Ole Miss opened its 2005 season with a 10-0 shutout of Arkansas State Tuesday afternoon, in front of 3,118 at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
The crowd of 3,118 was the largest to watch a season opener in the stadium's history, and the victory marked the Rebels' 24th consecutive season-opening win dating back to 1981.
Junior right-hander Anthony Cupps (1-0) worked six scoreless innings to earn the win, limiting the Indians (3-1) to three hits and striking out six. Junior left-hander Matt Maloney came on in relief of Cupps in the seventh and worked two scoreless innings, before redshirt freshman right-hander Will Kline closed out the game with a perfect ninth.
The three pitchers combined to hold Arkansas State to four hits and no walks, and struck out eight.
"We were very dominant on the mound," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "First, Anthony went out there and gave us six very strong innings. Then Maloney came in and pitched well, and even though we had a big lead in the ninth, I thought Kline came in and pitched superbly as well."
Junior right-hander Tyler Goodwin (1-1) suffered the loss for the Indians. He worked four innings, allowing one run on one hit and two walks, and struck out three.
Ole Miss scratched out a run in the fourth when Pettway drew a lead-off walk and later came around to score on a wild pitch by Goodwin. Pettway then made it 2-0 in the fifth with a RBI single to score sophomore third baseman Chris Coghlan.
The Rebels then broke the game open with six runs in the sixth inning, with Pettway's three-run blast extending Ole Miss' lead to 8-0.
"I thought it was a very good effort all-around," Bianco said. "To go out in the opener and score 10 runs and hold the other team scoreless, it's hard to ask for much more."
Coghlan finished the afternoon 3-for-5 at the plate to lead Ole Miss' 14-hit attack.
Ole Miss will return to action Friday afternoon when the Rebels face Lamar in the Coca-Cola Classic, hosted by Rice University. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., at Reckling Park. Ole Miss will also play No. 10 Rice on Saturday and SW Missouri State on Sunday.
Ole Miss 10, Arkansas State 0 (Feb 15, 2005 at Oxford, Miss.)----------------------------------------------------------------------Arkansas State......000 000 000 - 0 4 0 (3-1)Ole Miss............000 116 20X - 10 14 1 (1-0)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: Arkansas State - Goodwin; Fowler(5); Bishop(6); Ring(7); Walter(8). Ole Miss -A. Cupps; Matt Maloney(7); Will Kline(9).Win-A. Cupps(1-0) Loss-Goodwin(1-1) T-2:32 A-3118HR UM - B. Pettway (1).Game: UM0215
