The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt - SEC Tournament
SEC CHAMPIONS!
5/28/2006 | Baseball
May 28, 2006
Box Score
HOOVER, Ala. - The Rebels closed the Southeastern Conference tournament in quite a different way than it opened the season as #15 Ole Miss (40-20, 17-13 SEC) claimed the Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship with a 9-3 win over No. 30 Vanderbilt on Sunday.
Mark Wright blasted a three-run homer to straight-away center in the top of the ninth to push the Rebels to a 9-3 lead on a Commodore team who had come surging back at the Rebels over the previous three innings to help the Rebels claim the win. With the three-run shot, Mark Wright notched his 13th RBI of the tournament and set the all-time record for RBI in the event in only four games. The previous mark of 11 was held by David Magadan.
It was Wright's only hit of the day, but none could have been bigger as the Rebels claimed the first SEC Tournament title for Ole Miss since the inaugural tournament in 1977. That tournament was held in Oxford, Miss.
Wright was named MVP of the Tournament as three other Rebels were named to the All-Tournament team. Wright was honored as an out-fielder, along with Alex Presley (OF), C.J. Ketchum (1B) and Justin Henry (2B).
Craig Rodriguez (4-3) picked up the win for the Rebels as he pitched 5.0 innings, allowing only two runs on seven hits as he walked none and struck out one batter. Satterwhite then turned in 2.1 innings of work as he allowed one run on four hits and struck out one batter. Will Kline then closed out the game with 1.2 innings of scoreless work as he allowed only two hits, walked none and struck out three to pick up his third save of the season.
Tyler Rhoden (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he turned in 3.0 innings of work for the Commodores in only his second start. Rhoden gave up four runs, three earned, on six hits as he walked none and struck out two.
"We played well all week, and this was another well played game against a good Vanderbilt team," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "To win the biggest tournament outside of the College World Series is a great accomplishment. We could not have done any better from a 13-11 start (to the season). To be SEC Champions and know we'll host a Regional, we've come a long way."
Ole Miss scored in the top of the first to open the game. Henry opened the game with a lead-off single to left field, before moving to second on a single through the left side from Chris Coghlan. Zack Cozart laid down a sacrifice bunt, but reached safely and advanced to second as Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez overthrew first base, allowing Henry to score and Coghlan to move from first to third. With one out, C.J. Ketchum singled to right field to score Coghlan, but Cozart was thrown out at the plate. The Commodores got out of the inning when Logan Power popped up to the pitcher on a bunt, but the Rebels lead 2-0 after the top half of the first.
Vanderbilt led off the bottom half of the inning with a single through the left side for David Macias. Alvarez then grounded into a double play at first, giving the Rebels two outs before Rodriguez got Ryan Flaherty to fly out to center field, retiring the first three Commodore batters.
Justin Brashear was hit by pitch to open the second inning, and the Rebel catcher advanced to second on a wild pitch to Mark Wright. Wright then grounded out to the pitcher. Brashear moved to third on a balk, before Brashear would score on a two-out double to right field from Henry. The run put Ole Miss on top 3-0.
Brian Hernandez doubled to left to open the second inning for the Commodores, but the Rebels got an out with a pop up to third from Dominic de la Osa. A fly out to left from Shea Robin gave the Rebels the second out of the inning, before Ryan Davis grounded out to first to end the inning.
Cozart led off the third with a single to left before advancing to third on a single through the right side from Alex Presley. With one out on the board, Logan Power notched a sacrifice fly to right field to score Cozart and put the Rebels ahead 4-0.
With one out on the board in the bottom of the third, Brian French singled through the left side but was erased from the lineup as Macias grounded into a double play at second ending the inning with the Rebels still holding a 4-0 lead.
A lead-off walk of Mark Wright opened the fourth inning, as Vanderbilt sent Cameron Betourne out to the mound to relieve the starter, Rhoden. Cody Overbeck entered the game to face the southpaw, pinch hitting for Evan Button. A walk to Henry with one out put runners at first, and Brashear scored on a two-out single through the left side from Cozart to push Ole Miss to a 5-0 lead over the Commodores.
Alvarez opened the Vanderbilt fourth with a single to right field, before advancing to second on a ground-out from Flaherty. A grounder to short from Hernandez was the second out for the Rebels as Cozart took the ball to third where Coghlan placed the tag on Alvarez. The play allowed Hernandez to reach first on the fielder's choice. Rodriguez then struck out de la Osa to end the inning.
Ketchum doubled down the right field line to open the fifth inning, before Power drew a walk to put runners at first and second with no outs. The Commodores then again went to the bullpen, bringing in Matt Buschmann to hold the Rebels in check. Buschmann did just that, retiring three batters around a walk of Cody Overbeck that loaded the bases.
Vanderbilt's Robin doubled down the left field line to open the bottom of the fifth, before moving to third on a ground out to short from Davis. Feinberg reached on a fielder's choice as he hit a grounder to first base that saw Ketchum scoop up the ball and go to third in an attempt to get Robin out diving back into third. The attempt failed as Robin made it back to the bag safely. French then singled through the left side, scoring Robin and moving Feinberg to second with one out. A single to right field from Macias then loaded the bases for the Commodores with one out and Alvarez at the plate.
Alvarez notched a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing all runners to advance, as Vanderbilt cut the lead to 5-2. Flaherty then popped out to short to end the inning.
Coghlan doubled to right field to lead-off the sixth inning, but the Rebels were unable to push Coghlan any farther ahead as the Commodores retired the next three Ole Miss batters to leave the score at 5-2 in favor of the Rebels.
Cody Satterwhite entered the game at the bottom of the sixth for the Rebels. Six pitches later, the Rebels were back at the plate as Satterwhite retired the side in order with a groundout, foul fly and strikeout looking.
Three straight singles loaded the bases with no outs to open the seventh inning for the Commodores. Macias reached on a fielder's choice as Ketchum took a ground ball and threw home for the force play and the first out of the inning. Alvarez came to the plate with the bases loaded still and one out on the board for the Commodores, but the power-hitter popped out to shallow left field for the second out and preventing the runners from advancing as Power made the throw back into the infield to hold the runners. A wild pitch on a 1-1 count allowed a runner to score from third and the runners to advance as Vanderbilt cut the lead to 5-3. But a foul fly to third on the next pitch ended the inning with no further damage to the Rebel lead.
Vanderbilt sent Stephen Shao to the mound in the top of the eighth in relief of Buschmann. Shao retired the side in order to send the Commodores back to the plate with the Rebels clinging to a two run lead. With one out on the board in the eighth, de la Osa singled up the middle to put a runner on for the Commodores. Will Kline then came out of the bullpen to relieve Satterwhite on the mound. Robin then singled to shallow right to put runners at first and second. Davis then struck out to put two outs on the board.
A groundout on a hard shot back to the mound ended the inning as Kline scooped the ball up on reflex and sprinted to the bag, making the toss to Ketchum at first for the out and keeping the two-run lead for the Rebels.
Presley doubled to the wall in right field to open the ninth inning for the Rebels, before JoJo Tann entered the game to pinch hit for Ketchum. Tann was unable to lay down the bunt, as Vanderbilt got the first out on the board. Power then doubled down the left field line to drive in Presley and move the Rebels back up 6-3. Brashear was then hit by a pitch, his second of the game, to put runners at first and second as Vanderbilt called Casey Weathers out of the bullpen to relieve Shao.
Mark Wright then took the first pitch over the fence in straight-away center field to push the Rebel lead to 9-3. It was his 12th home run of the season as he claimed the team lead.
Kline then struck out two batters around a single from Macias and got Flaherty to ground out to third to end the game and seal the Championship for the Rebels.
Ole Miss will return home to host its third-straight NCAA Regional next weekend. Ole Miss will find out who the other three teams traveling to Oxford will be when the NCAA announces the tournament field and Regional pairings at 11:30 a.m. CST on Monday on ESPN.
