May 12, 2006

Box Score

OXFORD, Miss. - It was a tough night for the Rebels on Friday as No. 22 Ole Miss (31-19, 13-12 SEC) was unable to solve the puzzle of starting pitcher Nick Schmidt, falling to No. 10 Arkansas (35-15, 15-10 SEC) by a score of 12-3 in the opening game of the weekend series.

The Razorbacks used three home runs, two good for three runs and a two-run shot, to push ahead of the Rebels early and claim the win.

Justin Henry led the Rebel offense as he went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored. Justin Brashear and Peyton Farr both hit home runs for the Rebels to produce the only big hits for the Rebels, but it was too little, too late.

Craig Rodriguez (3-3) took the loss for Ole Miss as he gave up nine runs on 13 hits in 6.0 innings of work. The southpaw walked none and struck out five, but the Rebels couldn't close the deal in back-to-back innings as a three-run home run in the third and a two-run home run in the fourth both came with two outs on the board.

Nick Schmidt (8-2) picked up the win for the Razorbacks as he struck out 11 batters and only walked two on the night. Schmidt allowed two runs on four hits. Chris Rhoads came in to relieve Schmidt in the eighth inning, closing out the game with one run on four hits. The one run was a solo shot from Farr.

"You have to give Arkansas credit, they just outplayed us tonight," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "Schmidt was terrific. We couldn't get to his fast ball and he was mixing his pitches well. We felt like Craig was close to getting his rhythm, but he just couldn't get the final out."

The Rebels scored first Friday night, pushing a run across when Henry scored on a sacrifice fly from Alex Presley. But, the Rebels had loaded the bases with no outs on the board and couldn't get more than one run across as Schmidt found his rhythm retired three straight batters, including Presley's sacrifice, after loading the bases.

The Razorbacks then found a rhythm at the plate, putting together the three straight innings of home runs to put the game in their corner.

Ole Miss scored again in the seventh inning when Brashear hit his 10th home run of the season, a solo shot that sailed 373 feet out of the park in right field.

The Rebels added a third run when Farr pinch hit in the ninth, notching his first career home run with a shot to left center that flew 376 feet out of Swayze Field.

Danny Hamblin led the Razorbacks at the plate as he went 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Hamblin, Jake Dugger and Brian Walker all hit home runs for Arkansas.

The Rebels and Razorbacks will take to the field for the second game of the series at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be televised by Fox Sports South.