Murray State
Ole Miss
Rebels Walk-Off With Extra-Inning Victory
4/28/2010 3:00:00 AM | Baseball
Ole Miss second baseman Alex Yarbrough hit a walk-off home run to right center to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning as the 14th-ranked Rebels survived a tough Murray State team and handed the Breds an 11-10 defeat Tuesday evening at Oxford-University Stadium.
“I am real proud of the way our guys competed,” said head coach Rob McDonald. “We had a lot of guys do some heroic things, just some great at bats and clutch pitching. I think a lesser team could have just packed it in and that game could have gotten ugly in a hurry. I am sure proud of the way our guys competed.”The Rebels (29-13) got on the board in the first inning as the first two hitters reached via the base on balls, and Matt Smith drove in a run with a single through the left side.
The Breds (19-21) tied the game in the second inning as Bryan Propst started the inning with a double down the left-field line. After the next two hitters were retired, Cory Hodskins delivered the second double down the left-field line to score Propst.
Ole Miss pushed across two runs in the second inning as they rallied after the first two hitters were retired. Taylor Hightower started the rally with a hustle double to right center. Tim Ferguson plated the runner with a single through the left side. Miles Hamblin followed with an opposite-field double that landed just inside the left-field line.
The Rebels added to the lead in the third as the first two hitters reach on walks and came around to score on a base hit from Kevin Mort and another from David Phillips.
Ole Miss continued to score in the fourth as the Matt Snyder collected the third-straight hit of the inning to score a run. Kevin Mort later added a run-scoring single, ahead of Taylor Hashman's sacrifice fly to center field.
The Rebels added two runs in the fifth as Ferguson and Smith hit solo home runs.
MSU put together one of their better rallies of the season in the seventh as Hodskins was hit by a pitch, Jonathan Craycraft had a pinch hit single to right and Elliot Frey walked. Zach Noonan walked to score the first run, and was followed by a Brandon Elliott RBI single to right on an 0-2 pitch. Wes Cunningham delivered the big blow with a grand slam to right center, his 15th homer and second grand slam of the season. Drew Pixley and Daniel Hill singled with one out, and Craycraft had his second hit of the inning, a run-scoring single to right field.
The Breds took advantage of an untimely error in the top of the ninth to score two unearned runs and tie the game. The inning started with Propst singling through the left side and going to second as he beat the throw on Pixley's grounder into the hole at short. Hill loaded the bases with a single to center before the next two hitters were retired. Colton Moore followed as a pinch hitter and hit a high chopper to third that was dropped by the first baseman, allowing the two runs to score.
Brett Huber (2-0) picked up the victory after allowing one unearned run on one hit over three innings. Will Handlin (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing one run on four hits over two innings.
Hill led the offense by going 3-for-5, while Propst, Hodskins and Craycraft each collected two hits.
The Breds return to the diamond Saturday afternoon as they open a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Southeast Missouri. The doubleheader is set to get underway at 1 p.m.
