The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
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Mississippi State
Rebels Drop Series Opener To Mississippi State
5/12/2011 | Baseball
May 12, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - Alex Yarbrough hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning to give the Rebels the lead, but it was short-lived as a pair of fielding errors in the eighth doomed Ole Miss (27-22, 11-14 SEC) in a 7-6 loss to Mississippi State (31-18, 12-13 SEC) in the series opener on Thursday night.
Ole Miss mounted one rally, but a second wasn't to be as four errors that led to three unearned runs proved to be too much to overcome in the loss.
Bobby Wahl (0-1) suffered the loss in relief as he allowed three runs - two earned - on four hits with two strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work. Wahl entered the game to start the eighth inning after the Rebels took the lead in the seventh on a three-run home run from Alex Yarbrough.
Chad Girodo (3-0) picked up the win in relief, taking the mound for one out and allowing one run on two hits with one strikeout in his 0.1 innings of work. He allowed the three-run shot from Yarbrough, but Mississippi State took the lead back in the top of the next inning to give him the win.
"It was a tough game," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "We thought we had them at the end but they got couple of hits and we made some errors allowing them to gain the lead again. That also happened early on, we didn't play the field as well as we needed to. I think Matt Crouse struggled with his position early on and they got some 2 strike hits. Matt started putting up some zero which got us back into the game and the homerun from Alex Yarbrough helped us. We need to play better tomorrow and make fewer errors."
Mississippi State score first, using a fielding error at third with two outs to start a rally as Jarod Parks reached on the error. He then took second on a walk of Nick Vickerson before stealing third to set up the score on a single to center from Jaron Shepherd.
A double and a sac bunt started the second inning for the Bulldogs before a sac fly C.T. Bradford scored Jonathan Ogden to take the lead out to 2-0.
The Rebels answered in the bottom of the second, scoring a run on a single up the middle from Miles Hamblin. Back-to-back walks of Matt Snyder and Matt Tracy opened the inning before Snyder would score from second on the Hamblin hit.
The Bulldogs again used an error in the third inning to score a pair of runs and take the lead out to 4-1. Parks again reached on a fielding error and advanced to second on a single from Vickerson. A sac bunt moved him to third before Parks would score on a sac fly that should have been the final out of the inning. Vickerson then came home on a double from Brett Brownlee to push the lead to three runs.
Ole Miss got a run back in the fourth when Will Allen hit a solo home run to left field, his third of the season, to cut the lead to 4-2.
The Rebels then pushed into the lead in the seventh inning on the three-run shot from Yarbrough that scored Tanner Mathis and Blake Newalu. Mathis reached on a fielder's choice and Newalu doubled before Yarbrough came up with the two-out home run. It was the seventh home run of the season for the sophomore second baseman.
Mississippi State rallied in the top of the eighth, however, using back-to-back singles to start things off before things got tough for the Rebels. With men at the corners, Brownlee lay down a bunt and reached on the hit as no one covered first base. Vickerson scored on the play to tie the game at five and put men at first and second.
With one out on the board following a strikeout, both runners took off on the pitch that resulted in a strikeout, but a throwing error in an attempt to get the lead runner at third allowed a second run to score and left Brownlee at second. Wes Thigpen then singled through the left side, and a fielding error in left field allowed Brownlee to score on the play after advancing to third as Mississippi State went back on top 7-5.
Ole Miss mounted one more rally in the ninth, loading the bases with no outs on the board, but the Rebels were unable to push more than one run home. Blake Newalu scored on a double play, but a strikeout with the tying run on third ended the game at 7-6 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The Rebels and Mississippi State will play the second game of the series at 7 p.m. on Friday at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field. The game will be televised by SportSouth.
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