The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Auburn
Rebels Split Doubleheader With Tigers, Rubber-Match On Sunday
4/8/2006 | Baseball
April 8, 2006
Box Score
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss (18-13, 5-6 SEC) split a doubleheader with visiting Auburn (15-19, 4-7 SEC) on Saturday as the Rebels took the first game 14-2, but dropped the second game 6-2.
Ole Miss and Auburn were forced to play two games on Saturday because of inclement weather in Oxford on Friday night that postponed the original game.
"(In the first game) we played really well," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "It was a sound defensive game where we turned a couple of double plays, but I thought the story of the day was Craig Rodriguez. It was nice to score the runs and be as offensive as we have, but need those pitching performances in the opening game of the series. (Rodriguez) was really strong today."
The Rebels pounded out 14 runs on 16 hits in the first game, but managed only two runs on eight hits in the second as the Rebels left 10 runners on base.
Craig Rodriguez (1-0) picked up his first win of the season in game one as he became the first Rebel pitcher to toss a complete game in 2006. The junior southpaw walked one and struck out six, as he allowed two runs on seven hits in the outing. Both runs came in the first inning. From that point on, Rodriguez pitched a shutout and limited the Tigers to four hits the rest of the night.
Brett Butts (2-5) suffered the loss for the Tigers in game one as he allowed six runs on eight hits, walked three and struck out four in 4.2 innings of work. The Tigers used three more pitchers on the night as the Rebels picked up the win behind their 16 hits.
Zack Cozart and Mark Wright both went 4-for-5 at the plate in the first game to pace the Rebel offense. Cozart scored three runs and notched an RBI, while Wright scored a run and notched five RBI on the night.
Auburn scored first in game one with a two run first inning, but the Rebels answered with three runs in the bottom of the second and never looked back. The Rebels would go on to put up three more runs in the fifth, five runs in the seventh and three runs in the eighth.
Justin Brashear hit his first grand slam of his career, the Rebels second of the season, with a shot 374 feet to right field to boost the Rebels in the seventh. It was the sixth home run of the season for Brashear.
In game two, the Rebel offense came on late, but it wasn't enough as Auburn got six runs on eight hits to defeat the Rebels.
Brett Bukvich (3-3) suffered the loss in the second game of the day as he gave up three runs on five hits, walked three and struck out four on the night. It snapped a three-game win streak for Bukvich who drew his first weekend start of the season against the Tigers.
Evan Crawford (4-4) picked up the win for the Tigers as he held the Rebels to one run on five hits while walking four and striking out three. Crawford weathered the storm in the sixth inning as the Rebels loaded the bases, but Crawford got the final out on a foul ball lined to first to end the threat.
Auburn scored again in the top of the first before Ole Miss answered with a run in the third. The score would remain knotted at one until Auburn put up four runs in the seventh to push ahead 5-1. Ole Miss answered with a run in the eighth, but the Tigers got it back with a single run in the ninth to seal the 6-2 win.
Cozart went 2-for-3 in the second game of the day with a walk to lead the Rebels at the plate, while Brett Basham and Alex Presley scored the Rebels' two runs. The Tigers pitching staff also snapped Rebel first-baseman C.J. Ketchum's hit streak at 10 games in game two.
Mike Bianucci went 4-for-4 as the designated hitter in game two to lead the Tigers at the plate.
Ole Miss and Auburn will conclude the series with the rubber-match at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
