Rebel Season Ends at Tempe Super Regional

TEMPE, Ariz. The Rebels came up short again in a third-straight bid for a berth in the College World Series as No. 3 Arizona State (48-13) eliminated No. 13 Ole Miss (40-25) from the NCAA Tournament with a 7-1 win on Sunday.

Arizona State, who was the fifth-seeded team nationally, claimed the best-of-three series in two games.

The loss brought the Rebels’ season to an end as Ole Miss was once again one of the last 16 teams playing. Ole Miss advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals in 2005 and 2006 and was one of only four teams in the country to advance to the round of 16 each of the last three seasons.

Lance Lynn (8-5) suffered the loss for the Rebels as he allowed six runs on eight hits with four walks and nine strikeouts. With the nine strikeouts, Lynn finished the season with 146 strikeouts, the most ever in a single season for a Rebel pitcher.

Josh Satow (13-3) picked up the win for the Sun Devils as he worked 7.2 scoreless innings. He allowed five hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

Zack Cozart led the Rebels at the plate with a 1-for-3 performance and a run scored. He was one of six Rebels to record a hit on the night, but Ole Miss was out-hit 10-to-6 in the outing.

“After they put the four run inning together in the fourth, there just wasn’t much left in our tank,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “We competed hard, but Josh Satow just didn’t allow us much. Their defense also had a lot to do that as they shut down the few opportunities we had.

“Lance Lynn gave us a great effort as always, but you have to give credit to Arizona State on their effort in putting that big inning on the board. Many people wouldn’t have thought we would wound up here in a Super Regional again for the third straight year after the crazy things we have had happen this season. But, we kept competing and playing and here we were playing for a chance to get to Omaha.”

Arizona State got on the board in the third inning when C.J. Retherford homered to left field to open the inning. Andrew Romine doubled to the fence in right field in the next at bat before moving to third on a wild pitch. Brett Wallace then doubled down the left field line to score Romine and push the Sun Devils out to a 2-0 lead. Lynn then retired three of the next four batters to get the Rebels out of the inning and stranding two Sun Devils in scoring position.

The Sun Devils added four  more runs in the fourth inning as Arizona State, using a walk, two singles and a two-run home run from Eric Sogard to push out to a 6-0 lead on the Rebels.

Ole Miss would hold the Sun Devils off the board into the ninth inning when a single through the right side scored Wallace from second. Wallace reached on an infield chop single before stealing second.

The Rebels scored in the ninth on a sac fly to left field from pinch-hitter Fuller Smith. Smith flied out after the Rebels loaded the bases with one out, breaking up the shutout and putting the Rebels on the board. Cozart scored on the play as he had reached on a single before moving to second on a fielding error by the Sun Devils’ shortstop. Evan Button was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Smith came up with the sac fly.

Ole Miss finished the year with 40 wins for the third-straight season and hosted an NCAA Regional for the fourth-straight year, as one of only two teams in the nation to host an NCAA Regional each of the past four seasons.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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