The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friday, May 7
Oxford, Miss.
7:00 PM
Ole Miss
4
vs
11
Arkansas
Rebels Fall To No. 9 Arkansas In Series Opener
5/8/2010 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. - It was a tight pitcher's duel early, but a trio of late home runs pushed things out of reach for the Rebels as No. 11 Ole Miss (33-14, 14-8 SEC) fell to No. 9 Arkansas (36-10, 15-7 SEC) by a score of 11-4 in the series opener on Friday night.
Both Taylor Hashman and Matt Smith notched home runs on the day, and the Rebels held a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning, but Arkansas home runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings pushed the Razorbacks to the win.
Drew Pomeranz (6-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he allowed four runs on nine hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work.
Drew Smyly (8-0) picked up the win as he allowed two runs on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. Jordan Pratt picked up his first save as he entered the game in the eighth inning with a two run lead and allowed only one hit with one walk and four strikeouts in the final 1.2 innings of play.
"It started off as a great game and a pitching duel. [Drew] Smyly (the Arkansas starter) I thought was terrific tonight. Not that we didn't expect him to be very good, but he was super sharp tonight and was able to mix the pitches up. We weren't able to mount much off of him. Drew [Pomeranz]didn't have his best stuff obviously but really competed hard and gave us an opportunity."
Arkansas got on the board in the second inning when James McCann came up with a single up the middle to score Monk Kreder from second. Kreder reached on a double in the at bat before the McCann hit to set up the RBI hit for the Razorback catcher and put Arkansas up 1-0.
Taylor Hashman tied things up with one swing in the bottom half of the inning, tagging his seventh home run of the season with a shot over the left field fence.
Ole Miss moved into the lead in the fourth inning when a groundout to third from Alex Yarbrough scored Zach Miller and put the Rebels up 2-1. Miller doubled to open the inning and stole third to get into position to score on the Yarbrough grounder that gave the Rebels the lead.
Arkansas took the lead in the seventh when Brett Eibner hit a three run shot to center field to push the Razorbacks out to a 4-2 lead with two outs. Collin Kuhn and Zach Cox scored on the play after Kuhn doubled with one out and moved to third on a fly out. With two outs on the board, the Rebels intentionally walked Cox to put two men on before Eibner hit the home run.
The Razorbacks extended the lead to 6-2 in the eighth with a two-run shot from Tim Carver that scored pinch-runner Kyle Atkins from second. Atkins came on to run in place of Kreder who singled to open the inning.
Ole Miss cut back into the lead in the bottom of the eighth, using a two-run shot from Matt Smith that scored Kevin Mort to cut the lead to 6-4. Mort reached on a single in the previous at bat to get on for the Smith hit.
Arkansas responded in the ninth when pinch hitter Travis Sample came up with a grand slam to give the Razorbacks a 10-4 lead. With one out on the board, Tim Carver singled before a passed ball on a strikeout allowed him to move to second and Matt Vinson to reach safely. Kuhn then singled through the left side to score Carver and give Arkansas the 11-4 lead.
It would prove to be the final margin of victory as Ole Miss could not manage a rally in the ninth.
Ole Miss and Arkansas continue the series at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field in a game televised by ESPNU.
Both Taylor Hashman and Matt Smith notched home runs on the day, and the Rebels held a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning, but Arkansas home runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings pushed the Razorbacks to the win.
Drew Pomeranz (6-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he allowed four runs on nine hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work.
Drew Smyly (8-0) picked up the win as he allowed two runs on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. Jordan Pratt picked up his first save as he entered the game in the eighth inning with a two run lead and allowed only one hit with one walk and four strikeouts in the final 1.2 innings of play.
"It started off as a great game and a pitching duel. [Drew] Smyly (the Arkansas starter) I thought was terrific tonight. Not that we didn't expect him to be very good, but he was super sharp tonight and was able to mix the pitches up. We weren't able to mount much off of him. Drew [Pomeranz]didn't have his best stuff obviously but really competed hard and gave us an opportunity."
Arkansas got on the board in the second inning when James McCann came up with a single up the middle to score Monk Kreder from second. Kreder reached on a double in the at bat before the McCann hit to set up the RBI hit for the Razorback catcher and put Arkansas up 1-0.
Taylor Hashman tied things up with one swing in the bottom half of the inning, tagging his seventh home run of the season with a shot over the left field fence.
Ole Miss moved into the lead in the fourth inning when a groundout to third from Alex Yarbrough scored Zach Miller and put the Rebels up 2-1. Miller doubled to open the inning and stole third to get into position to score on the Yarbrough grounder that gave the Rebels the lead.
Arkansas took the lead in the seventh when Brett Eibner hit a three run shot to center field to push the Razorbacks out to a 4-2 lead with two outs. Collin Kuhn and Zach Cox scored on the play after Kuhn doubled with one out and moved to third on a fly out. With two outs on the board, the Rebels intentionally walked Cox to put two men on before Eibner hit the home run.
The Razorbacks extended the lead to 6-2 in the eighth with a two-run shot from Tim Carver that scored pinch-runner Kyle Atkins from second. Atkins came on to run in place of Kreder who singled to open the inning.
Ole Miss cut back into the lead in the bottom of the eighth, using a two-run shot from Matt Smith that scored Kevin Mort to cut the lead to 6-4. Mort reached on a single in the previous at bat to get on for the Smith hit.
Arkansas responded in the ninth when pinch hitter Travis Sample came up with a grand slam to give the Razorbacks a 10-4 lead. With one out on the board, Tim Carver singled before a passed ball on a strikeout allowed him to move to second and Matt Vinson to reach safely. Kuhn then singled through the left side to score Carver and give Arkansas the 11-4 lead.
It would prove to be the final margin of victory as Ole Miss could not manage a rally in the ninth.
Ole Miss and Arkansas continue the series at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field in a game televised by ESPNU.
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