Southern Miss
Mississippi
Baseball Falls at No. 19 Ole Miss, 7-2
4/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 20, 2010
OXFORD, Miss. - Southern Miss managed only five hits as they fell 7-2 to No. 19 Ole Miss Tuesday evening at Swazye-University Field in Oxford, Miss.
OIe Miss starting pitcher Matt Crouse baffled the Golden Eagle hitters throughout his six innings of work, allowing only one hit to Travis Graves in the sixth inning while striking out five and walking three.
"I think the tone was set offensively for us, we just could not ever get anything going," head coach Scott Berry said. "Last Saturday and Sunday we did not have any offense and it carried over to today. I tip my hat to (Ole Miss pitcher Matt) Crouse, he did a great job but to be a great team you have to find a way to scratch and do something and we were not able to do that tonight."
The Rebel bullpen worked the final three innings allowing two runs on four hits.
Graves' single could have just as easily been an out, he hit a soft fly ball down the right field line as Ole Miss second baseman Alex Yarbrough slipped and the ball fell untouched just inside the line for the first Southern Miss hit of the game.
Graves, Tyler Koelling, Anthony Doss, Joey Archer and Justin Diliberto had the five Golden Eagle hits, with Archer and Diliberto accounting for the only RBI.
Eight different Golden Eagle pitchers each worked an inning in the game, with starting pitcher Seth Hester taking the loss. They allowed a combined seven runs on 12 Ole Miss hits while walking four and striking out three.
Jeff Stanley, Geoffrey Thomas, Paxton King, Cody Schlagel and Mandella Mingo each worked a scoreless inning.
Ole Miss (25-13) jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning after Matt Smith singled hit a two-out through the left side and Matt Synder hit the first pitch he saw from Hester over the right field wall for a two-run home run.
Snyder made a bid for his third RBI of the game in the bottom of the third inning as he doubled to right-center field but a perfect relay from Dillon Day to Taylor Walker to Travis Graves nailed Smith at home for the final out of the inning.
The Rebels added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth as David Phillips doubled on a deep fly ball off Josh Jones that right fielder Tyler Koelling could not find off the bat. Josh Jones then walked two-hole hitter Miles Hamblin and Smith hit a two-out three-run home run to put Ole Miss up 5-0.
Ole Miss added two runs in the bottom of the sixth as Phillips hit a high fly ball off Jay Myrick to shallow left field that Kameron Brunty had hit off the tip of his glove allowing two runs to come around to score on what could have been the last out of the inning.
Southern Miss platted their only runs in the bottom of the ninth as Joey Archer and Justin Diliberto delivered back-to-back bases loaded singles.
Southern Miss (18-17) will return home this weekend as they host Houston in a C-USA series, first pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.
-southernmiss.com
