The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Southern Miss
Rebels Power Past Southern Miss 7-2
4/21/2010 | Baseball
Matt Crouse (3-1) picked up the win in a season-long 6.0 innings of work, holding the Golden Eagles to one hit while walking three and striking out five. Crouse did not allow a hit through the first 5.0 innings.
Southern Miss starter Seth Hester (1-1) suffered the loss as he allowed two runs on two hits with no walks and no strikeouts in 1.0 inning of work. The Golden Eagles sent eight pitchers to the mound on the evening.
"We played well tonight," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "Matt Crouse did a terrific job. He had his best stuff and really dominated the outer portion of the plate. Offensively, we were more efficient with our two guys in the middle [Snyder and Smith] healthy.
"It is always big to get a win against an in-state rival like Southern Miss. I think winning these two games in a row is key for us going into this tough weekend. We traditionally draw well on this weekend, and having been away for a few weeks, we are really going to have to rely on crowd to help us get things going against LSU."
Ole Miss got on the board in the first inning when Matt Snyder hit his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot to right field that scored Matt Smith. Smith singled in the previous at bat to get on base for the Snyder hit that put the Rebels up 2-0.
The Rebels jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning when Smith hit his eighth home run of the season, sending the ball deep over the fence in left center to score pinch-hitting Taylor Hashman and Miles Hamblin. Hashman doubled before Hamblin walked to reach base for the Smith hit.
Ole Miss added two more runs in the sixth inning when Hashman again came up with a two-RBI double on a high fly ball to left field that fell in safely after a miscommunication between the shortstop and left fielder for Southern Miss resulted in neither player able to make a play on the ball. The hit scored Kevin Mort and Taylor Hightower who reached on a single and walk, respectively.
Southern Miss struck back in the ninth, loading the bases with one out before back-to-back singles from Joey Archer and Justin Diliberto pushed two runs across the plate to break up the shutout. Ole Miss' Matt Tracy would get Southern Miss to ground into a fielder's choice and line out to second to end the game with the Rebels on top 7-2.
Ole Miss will return to action this weekend when the Rebels host fifth-ranked LSU in a three-game series at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field. Friday's contest will begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU. Saturday and Sunday's games will also be televised by Fox Sports and CSS, respectively.
