The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Tennessee-Martin
Rebels Down UT-Martin For Seventh Straight Win
4/29/2010 | Baseball
Smith connected for his 10th home run of the season in the first inning to tie the score at two after a quick start by the Skyhawks and never looked back as he also reached base when he was hit by a pitch to reach base safely in every plate appearance on the night.
All nine Rebel starters notched a hit in the outing as the squad tallied 18 hits in the game.
"Tonight we continued to swing the bat well," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "We're on a good streak right now, and hopefully it will continue into this weekend. Eric Callender was solid to start the game and Tanner Mathis and David Phillips came in and did a great job to finish things off. Matt Smith is locked in at the plate right now and has really become the complete hitter we knew he could be when he came here.
"This weekend series is big not only for the SEC race but for the rivalry and the fans. We've seen Mississippi State already this year in the mid-week, but need to get these wins this weekend A lot of our players and their players grew up playing against each other, and a good series this weekend would be huge."
Callender (3-1) picked up the win as he worked 5.0 innings and allowed four runs - three of them earned - on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Tanner Mathis and David Phillips closed things out from there as Mathis worked 3.0 innings and Phillips pitched the ninth.
Matt Miller (0-1) took the loss for Tennessee-Martin as he worked the second inning and gave up two runs - one earned - on two hits. The Skyhawks used eight pitchers.
The Skyhawks struck first, capitalizing on Rebel miscues to take an early lead. Trey Karlen belted out a leadoff home run to open the game. Cody Terry then singled and used a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and a passed ball to get to third before Wes Patterson drove him in to give UT-Martin the 2-0 lead.
Ole Miss answered in the bottom of the frame with a two-run home run from Matt Smith that scored Tim Ferguson. Ferguson led off the home half of the inning with a double.
The Rebels added two more runs in the second, taking the lead for good when Alex Yarbrough scored on a sac fly from Miles Hamblin after opening the game with a single and advancing to second on a single from Taylor Hashman. Hashman then scored on a passed ball to give Ole Miss a 4-0 lead.
The Skyhawks cut the lead to one with a single run in the third, but Ole Miss again answered with a three-run third inning to extend things to 7-3.
The visitors from Tennessee-Martin would score again in the fifth, pushing a single run across as Casey Young drew a walk and stole two bases before crossing home on a sac fly from Cody Terry.
Ole Miss then put together another big inning, scoring six runs in the bottom half of the frame in an inning that saw 11 batters go to the plate as the Rebels put the game out of reach.Ole Miss would go on to plate single runs in the sixth and the seventh, while the Skyhawks would push runs across in the seventh and the ninth for the final 15-6 score.
The Rebels return to action on Friday night when Ole Miss will take on Mississippi State in the first game of a three-game series in Southeastern Conference play. Friday's game will begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports Net. Saturday's game is at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised by SportSouth, while Sunday's game will begin at 1:30 p.m. and is carried by CSS.
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