The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
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Mississippi State
Rebels Clinch Series With 12-10 Win Over MSU
5/2/2010 | Baseball
The win marks the ninth-straight victory for the Rebels and ties the season long. It also pulls Ole Miss within one game of SEC West leading Arkansas.
Matt Crouse (5-1) picked up the victory in relief as he worked 0.2 innings and gave up three runs - two earned - on three hits with two strikeouts. Brett Huber picked up his seventh save of the season and second in as many nights as he worked the ninth, recording a strikeout.
Greg Houston (5-1) suffered the loss in relief for Mississippi State as he entered the game in the fifth and worked 0.2 innings with two runs on four hits in his time on the mound.
"Tonight was a different night at the ballpark," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "Friday night was all about pitching and defense. Tonight was about offense. We were able to get some big two out hits and get the timely hits when we needed them.
"Trent Rothlin was tremendous on the mound tonight and did a good job of stopping [Mississippi State] from scoring. He really won the game for us."
Rothlin worked 3.0 innings of scoreless and hitless ball while recording five strikeouts on the night.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the first as Nick Vickerson singled to left center to open the inning. He then used a wild pitch, a passed ball and a wild pitch to score and put Mississippi State up 1-0 before the Rebels could get out of the inning.
Ole Miss moved in front with an answering rally in the second, plating two runs to take the 2-1 lead. Zach Miller drew a lead-off walk and moved to third on a single from Alex Yarbrough. A sac bunt from Kevin Mort scored Miller and moved Yarbrough to third before the freshman would score on a sac fly from Taylor Hashman.
Mississippi State answered in the third, pushing two runs across the plate without recording a hit. The Bulldogs used two walks - one intentional, as well as two hit batters, a wild pitch and a passed ball to retake the lead 3-2 after three innings of play.
The Bulldogs added two more runs in the fourth when Jaron Shepherd and Jonathan Ogden scored on a double from Vickerson to push out to a 5-2 lead.
Ole Miss answered with a big fifth inning, though, scoring four runs with two outs as part of a five run inning that saw the Rebels jump back on top 7-5. Taylor Hashman drew a walk and moved to third on a single from Taylor Hightower. Another single from Ferguson drove in Hashman before a sac bunt from Miles Hamblin moved both men to scoring position.
Following a strikeout of Matt Smith, Matt Snyder came up with a two-RBI double to right to tie the game at five and start a string of hits that drove in two more runs to put the Rebels on top by two.
Mississippi State responded in the bottom half of the inning, again answering the Rebels' rally with one of their own. A walk of Connor Powers and a chop double down the right field line put two men in scoring position with no outs for Russ Sneed. A sac fly from Sneed and an RBI-single from Jet Butler tied the game at seven and sent Ole Miss to the bullpen for Matt Crouse. Crouse then got a pair of strikeouts to get the Rebels out of the inning.
Ole Miss loaded the bases with one out in the sixth before the Rebels capitalized on another hit and a pair of Bulldog errors to push four runs across the plate and take an 11-7 lead on the home team.
The Bulldogs scored a third run in the inning on a sac fly from Sneed, but Rothlin got a strikeout of the next batter to end the inning with the Rebels holding to an 11-10 lead.
Ole Miss added a 12th run in the ninth inning when Hashman scored on a double to right field from Ferguson that put the Rebels up 12-10. That score proved to be the final margin of victory as Huber shut down the Bulldogs in the ninth to give Ole Miss the win.
The two teams will conclude the series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in a game televised by CSS at Dudy Noble Field.
