.png&width=48&height=48&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Sam Houston State
Rebels Crush Sam Houston to Win NCAA Regional
6/3/2007 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Ole Miss was reeling three weeks ago and many had marked the team off their postseason cheat sheet.
The Rebels' faith never wavered, however, and they delivered their most powerful punch to Sam Houston on Sunday with a 21-13 victory to take the NCAA Oxford regional with season highs in runs and hits.
"The expectations were so high on this team going into the season," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. "For people who have watched us play a lot, there's been some weird things happen to this team. You scratch your head and say, 'I can't believe that.' But they always fought back."
The Rebels (40-23) lost 13 one-run games and suffered walk-off losses this season. But Ole Miss put it all together in the regional, scoring 39 runs with strong play by stars and unlikely role players alike.
Take the day of No. 9 batter Alex Kliman, for instance. He had four hits and drove in five runs nearly half his season total of 12 RBIs.
Kliman was one of nine Ole Miss hitters with at least one RBI. Ole Miss batted around in two innings against the Bearkats (40-24), who finally ran out of juice after two consecutive comeback victories in the regional.
The first nine Rebels who batted in the fourth inning scored to put the game away and Ole Miss failed to score in just two innings.
Ole Miss advances to its third straight super regional. The Rebels were ousted by Miami and Texas the last two seasons. They have not been to the College World Series since 1972.
Ole Miss will travel to Arizona State next weekend, after the Sun Devils defeated Nebraska Sunday to win the Tempe regional championship.
The Rebels were fairly reserved after the win, choosing to save their energy rather than celebrate a regional win like they have in the past.
Two errors helped Sam Houston to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Ole Miss batted around for the first time in the bottom of the inning and led 6-3.
The Bearkats, who came from behind four times earlier Sunday to eliminate Southern Miss 12-11 in 11 innings, weren't done mounting comebacks. Bobby Verbick hit a three-run homer and Sam Houston scored five runs in the top of the fourth to take an 8-7 lead.
But the Rebels pounced in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of three Bearkats errors and six hits to take a 16-8 lead.
"That's the key, answering when the other team scores," Henry said. "We had a lot of guys with big days today."
Among those players was Evan Button, who finished with three runs and three RBIs. Justin Henry was 4-for-5 from the dish, and Zack Cozart and Zach Miller collected three hits apiece.
Reliever Craig Rodriguez (2-2) took over in the fourth inning and picked up the win after giving up two hits and one run in 3 1-3 innings. Jim Bob Farris (0-1) gave up 13 hits and 14 runs, 10 earned, in the loss.
NCAA Oxford Regional All-Tournament Team | |||
| MVP: Lance Lynn, P, Ole Miss | |||
| C, Alex Kliman, Ole Miss | |||
| 1B, Josh Dew, Troy | |||
| 2B, Zach Miller, Ole Miss | |||
| 3B, Chris Matesich, Southern Miss | |||
| SS, Brian Dozier, Southern Miss | |||
OF, Jordan Henry, Ole Miss | |||
OF, Keith Stein, Sam Houston | |||
OF, Justin Henry, Ole Miss | |||
OF, Bobby Verbick, Sam Houston | |||
DH, Karl Krailo, Sam Houston | |||
| P, Lance Lynn, Ole Miss | |||
| P, Ryan Belanger, Southern Miss | |||
