REBELS SWEEP NO. 22 ALABAMA WITH EXTRA-INNING WIN
OXFORD, Miss. – Tanner
Mathis delivered the clutch hit expected from a senior on Sunday
afternoon, coming up with a bases-loaded single in the 11th inning to
deliver a 4-3 win as No. 18 Ole Miss (26-10, 7-8 SEC) picked up a
series sweep of No. 22 Alabama (22-16, 8-7 SEC).
Mathis’ hit
gave the Rebels a sweep in conference play for the first time this
season, the second sweep of a nationally-ranked team this season and
second series win over a nationally-ranked team in SEC play this season.
With
the bases loaded and one out on the board, the senior outfielder
delivered a line drive over the infield and into left field to bring
home Lance Wilson from third and give the Rebels the win.
Brett
Huber (3-1) entered the game to start the 11th and kept the Crimson
Tide off the board to allow Ole Miss the chance to get the win in the
bottom half of the inning.
Ray Castillo (2-1) took the loss in
relief, allowing two runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout
over the final 4.1 innings.
“I’m proud of the guys,” said Ole
Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “It obviously wasn’t our best game. We
made some mistakes. We didn’t execute on a few things, but they played
hard today. They were locked in from the first pitch and going full
speed. A lot of times you challenge them on Sundays because it’s the
third day. It gets a little stale. It’s the same team for the third day
in a row. Our guys played so hard today.
“I’m proud of all of
the pitchers that came in,” Bianco said. “It seemed like everybody was
able to get a big out for us and get out of an inning. You couldn’t be
happier for a guy like Tanner Mathis. He deserves that. He’s had a
tough year statistically to this point. He’s a grinder and a guy you
want up in that situation. You know he’s not going to strike out, and
he’s going to move the ball.”
Ole Miss scored first on the
afternoon with a pair of RBI singles from Austin Anderson and Andrew
Mistone. Tanner Mathis and Auston Bousfield led things off with a walk
and a single before the Anderson hit scored Mathis and put the Rebels
on the board. A walk of Stuart Turner loaded the bases and set up the
RBI single from Mistone to put Ole Miss on top 2-0 after the first
inning.
Rebel starter Sam Smith kept the Crimson Tide off the
board through his 4.1 innings of work, before the Crimson Tide would
finally scratch out a run in the sixth inning. Andrew Miller came home
from third on a groundout to third from Kenny Roberts that cut the lead
in half at 2-1.
Alabama took the lead in the eighth inning on a
pair of unearned runs to grab the first lead of the weekend for the
Crimson Tide. A throwing error and a single on back-to-back hits to
short put the first two men on base before a one-out walk loaded the
bags for Alabama. A sac fly from Andrew Miller tied the game, then
Chase Vincent delivered an RBI single up the middle to put Alabama on
top before the Rebels would get out of the inning.
Ole Miss
answered in the bottom of the eighth, with another big hit from
Mistone. The third baseman came to the plate with two on and two outs
and singled through the left side to score Holt Perdzock from second
and knot the score at three.
The Rebels then picked up the win
in the 11th when Mathis came up with the bases-loaded hit to score
pinch runner Lance Wilson and complete the series sweep.
Sikes
Orvis started the final inning with a single through the right side and
was replaced on the base path by Wilson. Cameron Dishon reached after
laying down a bunt that hit the dirt in front of the plate and kicked
high on the bounce before falling in safely between three converging
Alabama fielders. Stuart Turner then drew a walk to load the bases and
put the pressure on the visiting Tide.
Alabama struck out the
next Rebel hitter to get an out on the board, but the lineup flipped
back to the top of the order. Mathis then came to the plate and
connected on the first pitch to drive in the winning run.
Ole
Miss will return to action on Monday with the first game in a six-game
road swing when the Rebels face Memphis at AutoZone Park. First pitch
is set for 6:30 p.m.
#18 Ole Miss 4, #22 Alabama 3 (Apr 14, 2013 at Oxford, Miss.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Alabama............. 000 000 120 00 - 3 10 0 (22-16, 8-7 SEC) Ole Miss............ 200 000 010 01 - 4 12 2 (26-10, 7-8 SEC) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers:
Alabama - Spencer Turnbull; Ray Castillo(7) and Brett Booth. Ole Miss -
Sam Smith; Chris Ellis(5); Aaron Greenwood(8); Matt Denny(8); Scott
Weathersby(9); Jeremy Massie(10); Brett Huber(11) and Stuart Turner. Win-Brett Huber(3-1) Loss-Ray Castillo(2-1) T-3:29 A-7310 Weather: 57, Cloudy, Wind SSW 7 mph
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