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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Virginia
Smith Hits Game Winning Homer In Super Regional Opener
6/5/2009 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. -- Rebel sophomore Matt Smith only got one hit on the afternoon, but it was the one that mattered as his solo walk-off in the 12th inning propelled No. 8 Ole Miss (44-18) to a 4-3 win over No. 5 Virginia (46-13-1) in the first game of this weekend's NCAA Super Regional.
Smith came to the plate as the lead-off hitter in the 12th inning and took the first pitch offered over the wall in left center to give the Rebels the win. It was the eighth home run of the season for Smith.
Sophomore Jake Morgan (4-1) picked up the win in relief as he worked the final 3.0 innings after entering the game with the score tied at three to start the 10th. Morgan held the Cavaliers to one hit as he walked one and struck out one.
Virginia closer Kevin Arico (2-3) suffered the loss as he allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts over the final 2.2 innings.
Arico entered the game in the ninth with two men on and one out before giving up a single to Logan Power that scored Evan Button from second and tied the game at three. He then struck out the next two batters to send the game into extra innings before the Rebels claimed the win on the Smith walk-off.
The Cavaliers got on the board in the second when Steven Proscia scored from first on a two-out double from Franco Valdes. Proscia singled to open the inning before starter Phillip Irwin struck out the next two batters before the Valdes hit gave Virginia the 1-0 lead.
Ole Miss answered in the fourth with a single run to tie the game when Zach Miller scored on a single from Kevin Mort. Miller doubled with one out before crossing home on the Mort hit two batters later.
Virginia moved back into the lead with two runs in the top of the fifth as the Cavaliers strung together an inning with three hits, two walks and a sac bunt. A walk of Valdes started things off before he moved to second on a sac bunt from Keith Werman. Valdes then scored on a double from Jarrett Parker to give Virginia the lead. A single from Phil Gosselin then scored Parker and the Cavs held a 3-1 advantage.
Ole Miss started to chip away from there as the Rebels used a Miller single and a Travis double in back-to-back at bats to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Rebels then tied things in the ninth when Button scored on the Power hit that sent the game into extra innings. The pitching duel continued from there as both Virginia's Arico and Ole Miss' Morgan held things in check before Smith came up with the walk-off hit in the 12th.
Ole Miss and Virginia will return to action in the second game of the Super Regional at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The game will be televised by ESPN2.
