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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
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Mississippi State
Rebels Drop Series To Mississippi State With 11-8 Loss
5/9/2009 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Rebel offense came alive in the fifth and cut an early deficit to a one-run lead at 6-5, but mother nature had other plans as an almost four hour rain delay cooled off the Rebel bats as No. 7 Ole Miss (36-15, 16-10 SEC) fell to Mississippi State (23-27, 8-17 SEC) by a score of 11-8 on Saturday.
The series loss is the first for the Rebels to Mississippi State in six years. The two teams will face-off again in the final game of the series at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday in a game to be televised by CSS.
Kyle Henson led the Rebel offense with a 3-for-5 night that included three RBI and two runs scored, but it wasn't enough as the Rebels couldn't overcome the early deficit. Twice the Rebels cut the lead to one run - at 3-2 and 6-5 - but could get no closer.
Brett Bukvich (8-2) suffered the loss for the Rebels as he allowed six runs on eight hits with a walk and four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
Nick Routt picked up the win for the Rebels as he worked 5.0 innings and held the Rebels to five runs on eight hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Chad Crosswhite picked up the save as he worked the final 4.0 innings following the rain delay and gave up three runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
"It was a disappointing game," said head coach Mike Bianco. "We had a good effort offensively, but we gave up too many runs. You can't win in this league when you give up 11 runs."
Mississippi State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with a single run in the second and a pair of runs in the third as the Bulldogs took advantage of opportunities from the start.
Ole Miss answered in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs that cut the lead to one at 3-2. Matt Smith drew a walk and scored on a Kyle Henson double. Henson would go on to score two batters later on a Jeremy Travis single to left center after advancing to third on a fly out from Zach Miller.
The Bulldogs responded with a three-run fifth inning to take the lead out to 6-2. A walk of Cody Freeman opened the inning before a Russ Sneed single and a two-RBI double from DeLoach pushed two runs across the plate. DeLoach then scored two batters later on a fielder's choice from Brent Brownlee.
Ole Miss again rallied, using a three-run fifth to cut the lead to 6-5. Back-to-back singles from Tim Ferguson and Henry opened the frame and a double steal put both runners in scoring position. Ferguson then scored on a Logan Power ground out and Henry scored on a sac fly to center field from Matt Smith. Henson then hit a solo home run before Mississippi State got out of the inning
Then the rains came, sending the game into a 3:50 rain delay. Play resumed at 8:40 p.m.
Mississippi State then put the game away with a three-run home run in the sixth from Connor Powers and a two-run home run in the ninth from Ryan Duffy to give the Bulldogs an 11-5 lead.
The Rebels fought back in the bottom of the frame, pushing three runs across the plate to cut the lead to 11-8, but could get no closer as Mississippi State claimed the series win.
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