May 7, 2011

Box Score

OXFORD, Miss. - The Rebel offense was in full swing from the start on Saturday, using home runs in the first two innings to take an early lead that would never be relinquished as Ole Miss (26-21, 10-13 SEC) defeated No. 1 South Carolina (37-9, 18-5 SEC) by a score of 10-2.

The win evened the weekend series at a game each with Sunday's rubber game to be played at 1:30 p.m. at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.

Five Ole Miss players tallied multiple-hits on the afternoon, led by three hit days from Austin Anderson and Miles Hamblin, while Hamblin and Alex Yarbrough both hit home runs in the first two frames to give momentum to the Rebels.

"Today was terrific for our team" said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "We were finally able to control a game all the way through and have consistent outings from all our pitchers.  David Goforth was spectacular for us, and the guys behind him were able to hold them scoreless from the fifth inning on.  Alex Yarbrough's homer in the first was huge, and really allowed us to take command early on.  It's encouraging to see us respond like this."

Goforth (4-6) picked up the win as he allowed only two runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work.

Colby Holmes (4-2) took the loss for the Gamecocks as he allowed three runs on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work.

Ole Miss got on the board first with a two-run home run from Alex Yarbrough that scored Tanner Mathis. Mathis opened the inning with a single before Yarbrough's sixth home run of the season gave the Rebels the 2-0 lead.

Miles Hamblin extended the lead in the second inning with a solo shot to right center as he took the first pitch of the inning over the fence to put Ole Miss on top 3-0. That sent the Gamecocks to the bullpen for Tyler Webb, the second of seven pitchers used on the afternoon.

Ole Miss added a run in the third inning on a Matt Tracy single to left field that scored Yarbrough from second. Yarbrough walked to open the inning before stealing second to set up the score on the Tracy hit that put the Rebels up 4-0.

South Carolina got two runs back in the fourth with a walk and single to start things off, before a passed ball put both runners in scoring position. The Gamecocks then got a sac fly and a triple to get two runs home before the Rebels got out of the inning up 4-2.

The Rebels pushed three more runs across in the sixth inning, loading the bases before Tanner Mathis hit a grounder to short that pushed Hamblin home from third. The Gamecocks attempted to get the out at second, but the fielder dropped the ball and kept the bases loaded. Yarbrough then came up with a two-RBI single up the middle to extend the lead to 7-2.

Back-to-back singles opened the seventh before a double from Miles Hamblin scored the first of three runs in the inning. With one out on the board and Hamblin and Will Allen at second and third, Anderson came up with his third hit of the day, lacing a shot back up the middle on a pulled in infield that caught Carolina's Scott Wingo by surprise and allowed both runners to score. The runs put the Rebels on top 10-2, marking the final margin of victory as neither team would score again.