May 19, 2012

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Auston Bousfield went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, while Matt Snyder drove in a pair of runs, but Ole Miss couldn’t overcome a pair of errors and an aggressive Commodore team as No. 22 Ole Miss (34-22, 14-16 SEC) fell to Vanderbilt (29-25, 16-14 SEC) on Saturday.

R.J. Hively (5-5) took the loss for Ole Miss, allowing four runs – three earned – on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work. He was one of three Rebel pitchers to see action on the afternoon.

Kevin Ziomek (4-6) picked up the win as he held the Rebels to two runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work. Will Clinard picked up his fourth save of the season, recording the final out with a strikeout while Ole Miss had men at the corners and had cut the lead to three runs on a sac fly from Snyder.

“It was a tough weekend,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “We never got it going this weekend. Vanderbilt is really playing well and they made R.J. (Hively) work as much as anyone has all season. After a weekend like this, you have to turn the page heading into the postseason. We have to find ourselves in Hoover.”

Ole Miss scored first for the first time on the weekend with a single to left from Auston Bousfield that drove in Tanner Mathis from second. Mathis reached when he was hit by a pitch to lead off the game before taking second on a single to right from Matt Snyder that set up the score on the Bousfield hit.

Vanderbilt answered in the bottom half of the frame when Tony Kemp scampered home on a wild pitch to tie the game at one. Kemp reached on a single to short before he stole second and a throwing error on the attempt to catch him stealing sailed into center field to allow him to take third. Kemp then tied the game on the wild pitch.

A solo shot from Connor Harrell opened the second inning and put Vanderbilt in the lead 2-1.

The Commodores made it 4-1 in the third inning with a two-RBI double down the right field line from Riley Reynolds. Anthony Gomez and Conrad Gregor scored on the play after back-to-back singles put them on and a wild pitch advanced them both into scoring position.

Ole Miss cut the lead in half in the fifth when Mathis scored from third on a groundout to third from Matt Snyder. Mathis singled to short and took third on a single to right from Alex Yarbrough before scoring on the groundout from Snyder to make it 4-2.

Vanderbilt pushed it back out to a three-run lead with a two-out single up the middle from Gomez that scored Kemp from third. Kemp reached on a single and stole second. He then took third on a groundout from Mike Yastrzemski to set up the score on the Gomez hit to make it 5-2.

The Commodores added a sixth run in the eighth when Kemp scored on a double to left center from Yastrzemski. Kemp singled and then stole second to set up the score that would make it 6-2 after eight innings.

Ole Miss got a bases loaded sac fly from Snyder in the ninth to push a run across and cut the lead to 6-3 on a shot to the wall that just died before going out of the park in right field. The Rebels couldn’t get anything more across the plate, however, as Vanderbilt picked up the win and swept the series.

The Rebels will now continue competition at the Southeastern Conference Tournament with the opening game of the week-long event. Ole Miss will face Kentucky at 9:30 a.m. in a game televised by SportSouth.