NO. 18 OLE MISS FALLS TO MISSISSIPPI STATE 4-2 IN SERIES FINALE
STARKVILLE,
Miss. – An uncharacteristic first inning that featured two walks and
three hit batters proved to be too much to overcome for the Rebels on
Sunday as No. 18 Ole Miss (28-16, 10-11 SEC) fell to Mississippi State
(27-17, 10-11 SEC) by a score of 4-2 in the series finale.
In
what was an odd game all-around, the Rebels out-hit the Bulldogs 8-2
but didn’t score until the eighth inning, while Mississippi State
scored all four runs in the first inning with only one hit.
The Bulldogs finished the day with only two hits for the game.
“It’s
disappointing and a game we really gave away in the first inning,” said
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “We hit has many people with pitches
in the first as we have hit in a month (combined).
“We weren’t
able to do much at the plate,” Bianco said. “We got some leadoff
doubles and then weren’t able to get them home. There aren’t many games
where you only give up two hits, commit no errors and lose.”
Tanner
Bailey (1-1) suffered the loss in his first Southeastern Conference
start, allowing four runs on one hit with two walks. He did not record
an out before leaving the game just days after working a perfect 4.0
innings in a start at Memphis.
Luis Pollorena (3-0) picked up
the win as he held the Rebels scoreless, but allowed four hits with two
walks and seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work. Caleb Reed then
picked up his eighth save of the season, allowing two runs on four hits
with a strikeout over the final 3.2 innings.
Ole Miss’ bullpen
was solid the rest of the way as Dylan Chavez, Hawtin Buchanan and
Brett Huber held the Bulldogs to one hit the rest of the way to give
the Rebels the chance to rally.
Mississippi State struck
first, loading the bases with no outs on a walk, a single and a hit
batter. A second walk pushed the first run home and Ole Miss turned to
its bullpen for left-hander Dylan Chavez. Chavez got a strikeout in his
first batter faced, but hit the second batter to push home a second run
and kept the bases loaded. A third hit batter in the next at bat made
it 3-0 in favor of Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs then got a
sac fly from Wes Rea to make it 4-0 for the home team before the Rebels
would get out of the inning with a groundout to second.
Ole Miss
got on the board in the eighth inning when Matt Snyder delivered an RBI
double off the batters eye in straightaway center field to score Jake
Overbey from first. Orvis opened the inning as a pinch hitter, coming
up with a single through the right side before Overbey was inserted as
a pinch-runner. Snyder’s hit pushed him home to cut the lead to 4-1,
but the Rebels couldn’t continue the rally in that half inning.
Zack
Kirksey then hit a solo shot to right field to open the ninth and trim
the lead to 4-2, but Ole Miss couldn’t get anything more going from
there as the Bulldogs claimed the win by two runs.
Ole Miss will
return to action on Tuesday with a game against Southern Miss at
Trustmark Park in Pearl. It is a makeup of the original game that was
rained out on March 20 and will begin at 6:30 p.m. The Rebels will be
the visiting team.
Mississippi State 4, #18 Ole Miss 2 (Apr 29, 2012 at Starkville, Miss.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ole Miss............ 000 000 011 - 2 8 0 (28-16, 10-11 SEC) Mississippi State... 400 000 00X - 4 2 0 (27-17, 10-11 SEC) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers:
Ole Miss - Tanner Bailey; Dylan Chavez(1); Hawtin Buchanan(5); Brett
Huber(7) and Will Allen. Mississippi State - Luis Pollorena; Caleb
Reed(6) and Mitch Slauter. Win-Luis Pollorena(3-0) Save-Caleb Reed(8) Loss-Tanner Bailey(1-1) T-2:45 A-6650 HR OM - Zach Kirksey (11). T. Bailey faced 4 batters in the 1st.
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