April 10, 2011

Box Score

OXFORD, Miss. - The Rebels turned in one of their best offensive performances of the season on Sunday, pounding out 18 hits on the way to a victory as Ole Miss (20-13, 5-7 SEC) downed Georgia (18-15, 8-4 SEC) 12-7 in the series finale.

Taylor Hightower went 4-for-5 at the plate and was one of six Rebels to notch multiple hits in the game in the win. Alex Yarbrough and Matt Tracy both drove in three runs to help pace the Rebel offense.

Austin Wright (4-3) picked up the win as he allowed three runs on nine hits with a walk and nine strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. The nine strikeouts tied a season-high for the left-hander set against Lipscomb.

Craig Gullickson (3-2) suffered the loss for the Bulldogs as he allowed six runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 3.0 innings of work.

The Rebels now go on the road to take on Southern Miss at Trustmark Park on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.

"Today we came out with great energy and the belief that we could win and avoid the sweep," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "I'm really proud of Austin Wright and his great pitching performance. He was terrific today. Offensively, we were finally able to get the key hits and have some big innings.  The difference between today and the rest of the weekend was that we got timely hits during tough at bats with counts 3-1 or 3-2. The mindset of any team is always important, and I think that with this win we can refocus and gain momentum."

Ole Miss scored first on Sunday, pushing a run across the plate in the second inning when Matt Smith scored on a single through the right side from Preston Overbey. Smith singled before a balk moved him to second to set up the score on the Overbey hit.

The Rebels added two more runs in the third when Matt Tracy came up with a two-RBI single to right center that scored Tanner Mathis and Yarbrough to put Ole Miss on top 3-0.

Georgia cut the lead to one in the top of the fourth, using a two-run home run from Brett DeLoach to trim the lead to 3-2.

Ole Miss answered in the bottom of the inning, scoring seven runs as 12 men came to the plate for the home team. The big inning started with back-to-back singles from Taylor Hightower and pinch-hitter Will Allen before Jordan Poole drew a walk to load the bases. The Rebels then got three straight singles and a walk before Hightower came up with his second hit in the inning - a two-RBI liner up the middle - to cap the rally and put Ole Miss on top 10-2.

The Rebels got two more runs in the sixth inning when Yarbrough and Tracy drove in runs to take the lead out to 12-2.

Georgia then cut back into the lead, scoring a run in the sixth on a single up the middle from Jonathan Hester before two-run home runs in the seventh and ninth put the score at the final 12-7 margin.