The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Wright State
Rebels Down Wright State 15-6 On Opening Day
2/18/2011 | Baseball
Feb. 18, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - Matt Smith and Tanner Mathis both notched four hits and combined for six RBI as Ole Miss (1-0) pounded out 17 hits on the afternoon to defeat Wright State (0-1) by a score of 15-6 on opening day at O-U Stadium/Swayze Field.
Smith was 4-for-4 with three RBI and a walk, while Mathis went 4-for-6 to lead the Rebels at the plate. Miles Hamblin also came up big, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, including the Rebels' first home run of the season in the seventh inning.
Matt Crouse (1-0) picked up the win for Ole Miss in his first Friday night start, tying a career-long with 6.0 innings of work as he allowed five runs - two earned - on six hits. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. Three of the five runs came in the first inning, all of them unearned, as the Rebels committed two errors in the top of the first frame. Crouse allowed only two runs on four hits over the next five innings.
Eric Callender picked up his first save of the season, working the final 3.0 innings for the Rebels.
Cody Henn (0-1) took the loss for the Raiders as he allowed seven runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 0.2 innings of work.
"This win was huge for our relatively young team," Bianco said. "We have some new guys out there playing new roles. Matt Crouse handled the pressure very well when we missed a fly ball and fell behind 3-0 in the first inning. He did not walk a guy.
"Then we came up to bat, hit three singles and had a good inning," Bianco said. "Their pitcher was good but started to get rattled when we got hits off of him, and that allowed us to extend our hitting. We got off to a rough start but handled the pressure and came back strong. As a coach this is what you want to see."
Wright State got off to the quick start, using a pair of Rebel errors to push three runs across the plate. The Raiders opened the game with a double and a fielder's choice on a sac bunt attempt that put runners at the corners before Crouse would come up with a strikeout to get the first out of the game. A fielding error on a shallow fly ball to left allowed the first run to score and put two men on before a fielding error on a fly ball to right let another run cross the plate. A double from Kyle Mossbarger pushed a third run across the plate before the Rebels would get out of the inning.
Ole Miss struck back in the bottom of the first, pushing seven runs across the plate as the Rebels sent 13 men to the plate in the inning. It started with three straight singles before Henn would record a strikeout for the Raiders. The next three Rebel batters reached with a walk and back-to-back hit batters before freshman Preston Overbey came up with his first collegiate hit to drive in a pair of runs and put the Rebels up 5-3.
Tanner Mathis and Alex Yarbrough then drove in two more runs with RBI singles to give the Rebels the five run advantage after the first.
Wright State answered in the fourth inning, using a pair of doubles and a single to push two runs across the plate, but Ole Miss responded with another big inning in the bottom of the fourth. The Rebels sent nine men to the plate in the fourth to push five more runs across and take the lead out to 12-5.
Ole Miss would add a run in the fifth and a run in the sixth before Hamblin's solo shot in the seventh gave the Rebels the 15-6 lead on the Raiders, who had scored what would prove to be their final run of the day in the top of the seventh.
Ole Miss and Wright State will return to action on Saturday in the second game of the series. First-pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. at O-U Stadium/Swayze Field.
