Rebels Rally Late to Defeat Arkansas State

March 27, 2013

OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI/Ole Miss Athletics) – Trailing by two runs in the seventh, No. 11 Ole Miss (22-4) put together a five-run rally on the way to a come-from-behind win as the Rebels defeated Arkansas State (16-9) by a score of 10-4 on Wednesday night at Swayze Field.

(AP Photo)
Short-stop Austin Anderson belted a team-high 3 RBI’s in the Rebels come from behind victory over Arkansas State on Wednesday night.

With one out on the board and trailing 4-2, Tanner Mathis sparked things with a single through the left side to start the rally. Auston Bousfield then drew a walk to put two men on before a wild pitch advanced both men to scoring position. Austin Anderson delivered a single through the right side to drive in both runners and even the game at four.

The Rebels weren’t done, however, as Stuart Turner dropped a single into right field and before an RBI single from Mistone dropped into centerfield, giving the Rebels the lead.

An RBI single from Sikes Orvis and a sac fly from Will Allen capped the five-run rally and the Rebels led 7-4 at the end of the seventh.

“It was a great game,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “We hung in there. We didn’t swing the bats early. We left the bases loaded with no outs, and we didn’t score a run. We opened the door by not being able to feel the bunt. We kept our composure. The pitchers continued to pound the strike zone. We were able to put two big innings together at the end to win the game.”

Brady Bramlett (4-0) picked up the win in relief, working 1.2 scoreless innings with a strikeout and got the Rebels out of a tight spot in the sixth to allow Ole Miss the chance to rally.

Bramlett entered the game with one out and men at second and third with Arkansas State already having pushed two runs home in the inning to take the 4-2 lead. The right-hander got Alex Potts to hit a grounder to first and the Rebels turned a 3-6-5 double play to erase the two lead runners and get out of the inning with no more damage.

The freshman was then retired all three batters faced in the sixth before Ole Miss rallied in the seventh to take the lead for good.

Seth McWilliams (3-5) suffered the loss for Arkansas State, entering the game in the sixth inning and getting the Red Wolves out of a bases-loaded jam, but surrendered the lead in the seventh. McWilliams allowed five runs on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts to take the loss.

Ole Miss scored first, pushing a run home in the first inning on a sac fly from Stuart Turner only to see Arkansas State answer with a pair of runs in the second inning move in front of the home team.

The Rebels answered in the bottom of the frame, tying the game with a two-out single from Preston Overbey that brought Sikes Orvis home from second base. Orvis had reached on a single to center and moved to second on a balk to set up the tying run on the Overbey hit.

Arkansas State grabbed the lead again with the two-run sixth inning. The Red Wolves capitalized on a single and a throwing error on a sac bunt attempt to put two men in scoring position. Arkansas State then used a pair of RBI singles to left to bring the two runs home before Ole Miss would bring in Bramlett and get out of the inning down only two runs.

The Rebels then posted the five-run seventh inning to reclaim the lead and added three more runs in the eighth to grab the 10-4 victory.

Ole Miss will now hit the road to continue Southeastern Conference play with a three-game series at Florida. The Rebels and Gators will take the field for game one of the series at 6 p.m. CT on Friday night. Both Saturday and Sunday’s games will begin at 12 p.m. CT and will be televised by CSS and Fox Sports Florida, respectively.

#11 Ole Miss 10, Arkansas State 4 (Mar 27, 2013 at Oxford, Miss.)
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Arkansas State…… 020 002 000 – 4 7 0 (16-10)
Ole Miss………… 110 000 53X – 10 13 1 (22-4)
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Pitchers: Arkansas State – Woodhouse, Cody; Ring, Tanner(4); McWilliams, S.(6); Birginske, Derek(7); Owen, David(8) and Roberts, Ryan. Ole Miss – Josh Laxer; Austin Blunt(5); Brady Bramlett(6); Matt Denny(8); Jeremy Massie(9) and Will Allen.
Win-Brady Bramlett(4-0) Loss-McWilliams, S.(3-5) T-3:00 A-6696
Weather: 55, Fair, Wind NW 6 mph
Ring, T. faced 3 batters in the 6th.