The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
LSU
Mort Walk-Off Hit Completes Rebel Sweep Of LSU
4/25/2010 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. - Late inning heroics was the tale again for the Rebels as a pair of home runs in the eighth set up a walk-off single with the bases loaded from Kevin Mort in the ninth, as No. 19 Ole Miss (28-13, 11-7 SEC) swept No. 5 LSU (32-9, 11-7 SEC) with a 7-6 win on Sunday.
It was the second straight walk-off win for the Rebels over LSU this weekend.
Back-to-back singles from Taylor Hightower and Miles Hamblin opened the ninth for the Rebels before LSU went to its bench for defensive substitution Wet DeLatte, who was placed behind the mound as a fifth infielder. The Tigers intentionally walked Tim Ferguson to load the bases before Kevin Mort sent a fly ball to the gap in left center to drive in Hightower from third and give the Rebels the come-from-behind win.
The sweep marks the first time LSU has been swept in a series since being swept at Tennessee in the 2008 season. That series included a pair of seven-inning games as part of a Sunday doubleheader. It's the first time the Tigers have been swept in three-straight nine inning games since the 2007 season at Vanderbilt to close the regular season.
Brett Huber (1-0) picked up the win in relief for the Rebels as he worked 2.0 innings, entering the game with a man on first in the eighth and holding LSU to one hit with one walk and three strikeouts.
Austin Ross (3-4) suffered the loss for LSU as he gave up a run on three hits with a walk and no strikeouts. Ross entered the game to start the ninth and never recorded an out.
"Today was another great game," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "We had three great crowds, and matched it with three great games. We played well and finally got the hits that we've been missing. Offensively, we played more like the team we knew we could be, and pitching we were good enough to get the wins.
"It was a tough weekend to pitch. LSU is a heavy offensive team. David [Goforth] was not at his best today, but he hung in there and gave us a shot to win. Brett Huber was tremendous in the last few innings, and was extremely dominant. Our relief pitchers were huge for us this weekend, and gave us the chance to stay in games after our starters struggled in the beginning innings."
LSU struck first on Sunday, using a walk and a single to put two men on before Tyler Hanover doubled off the wall in left center to drive in Matt Gaudet and leave two men in scoring position with no outs. Alex Edward then hit a sac fly to center field to score Leon Landry and put the Tigers up 2-0. A walk put Grant Dozar on base before a wild pitch on a walk of Mikie Mahtook scored Hanover from third as LSU put together a three run inning.
Ole Miss responded in the bottom half of the inning, pushing three runs across to tie the game. Matt Snyder was hit by a pitch to open the frame before moving to third on a double by Zach Miller. Snyder then scored on a groundout to first from Alex Yarbrough that allowed Miller to take third. A walk of Taylor Hashman put two men on before a fielding error on a grounder to short from Taylor Hightower pushed Miller home and cut the lead to one.
With Hightower at third, Miles Hamblin laid down a bunt that scored Hightower and knotted the game at three after two innings of play.
The Tigers moved back on top in the fourth with a two-run home run from Mahtook that scored Grant Dozar. Dozar singled to open the inning before the Mahtook hit that put LSU in the lead 5-3. A walk of Blake Dean put a man on with one out and sent the Rebels to the bullpen for Trent Rothlin.
Rothlin gave up a single to Micah Gibbs to put two men on before getting Gaudet to ground into a double play at third to end the inning.
LSU got a triple out of Leon Landry to open the fifth, sparking another rally as the Tigers extended the lead on the Rebels. With two outs on the board, a wild pitch allowed Landry to score and push the LSU lead to 6-3.
The Rebels cut into the lead in the sixth, pushing a run across the plate when Snyder scored from second on a single to right center from Taylor Hashman. Snyder reached on a single and advanced to second on a single from Miller to get into scoring position for the Hashman hit that trimmed the lead to 6-4.
Ole Miss tied things up in the eighth when Matt Snyder and Alex Yarbrough both hit solo home runs to knot the score at six. It was the third home run of the weekend for Snyder and first career home run for Yarbrough - who came up with extra-inning heroics the night before with a game-winning hit in the 11th to clinch the series.
The Rebels then came up with the win with the rally in the ninth to claim the series sweep.
Ole Miss will return to action on Tuesday when the Rebels host Murray State at 6:30 p.m. at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field. It is the first of a pair of midweek games for Ole Miss who will also host UT-Martin on Wednesday night at Swayze Field.
