April 22, 2007
Oxford, Miss. – Drew Martin’s pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning broke a 9-9 tie and with two scoreless innings from reliever Jeff Jeffords, fourth ranked South Carolina held on for an 11-9 win over 19th ranked Ole Miss to win the last game of a three-game SEC baseball series. Junior right-handed pitcher Wynn Pelzer pitched a season-high 4.1 innings to pick up the win and is now 2-2 on the year. South Carolina improves to 31-10 and 10-8 in the SEC while Ole Miss falls to 27-15 and also 10-8 in the conference.
Ole Miss had rallied from as many as seven runs down to tie the game at nine apiece before the Gamecocks came back with a pair of runs in the eighth and ninth innings. The eighth inning opened with a double down the right field line by Trent Kline, his team-leading 13th of the year. After a sacrifice bunt by Jon Willard, the Gamecocks summoned Martin to pinch-hit with Kline on third base. Martin knocked a single to right field to score Kline and give the Gamecocks a one-run lead. South Carolina added to that in the ninth inning as James Darnell walked, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a throwing error by Rebel third baseman Cody Overbeck. Jeffords retired Ole Miss in order in the ninth inning to earn the save and preserve a Gamecock win.
Jeffords’ first save featured a quality two-inning performance with just one hit allowed and two strikeouts. Carolina reliever Wynn Pelzer worked 4.1 innings of relief and limited the Rebels to three runs on five hits with four strikeouts to earn the win. Ole Miss reliever Cody Satterwhite suffered the loss and is 3-1 on the year. He allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
The Gamecocks stormed out of the gates early in the game with five runs in the first inning off Ole Miss starting pitcher Nathan Baker. Travis Jones reached second base on a throwing error by Overbeck, his first error of the game. A wild pitch and a walk to James Darnell would put runners on the corners with one out. Carolina’s Justin Smoak then extended his hitting streak to 22 games with a double down the left field line that scored both runners and gave Carolina a 2-0 lead. South Carolina used the long ball then to score three more runs as Phil Disher launched a two-run homer and Jon Willard hit a solo shot to give the Gamecocks a 5-0 cushion. For Disher, it was his eighth home run of the year and first since March 25 at Mississippi State and for Willard his fourth of the year and first since March 20 vs. UNC Asheville.
Logan Power put Ole Miss on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning with a two-out RBI single to left field that scored Jordan Henry from second base. The Rebels would load the bases then but Carolina starting pitcher Will Atwood would work himself out of the jam with a strikeout against Kyle Mills to end the frame and limit the damage.
Carolina knocked out Baker in the beginning of the second inning as Reese Havens led off with a solo home run to right field for his third round tripper of the year. The Gamecocks added two more runs in the inning against reliever Justin Cryer as Smoak connected for his second hit of the game, a two-run homer that cleared the right field wall for his 13th of the year.
Ole Miss scored two more runs in their bottom half. Brett Basham hit his first career home run and back-to-back two-out doubles from Justin Henry and Zack Cozart pushed across Ole Miss’ third run of the game. The Rebels crept to within 8-6 in the third inning with three more runs that knocked Atwood from the game. Kyle Mills connected with a two-run homer and Jordan Henry added an RBI single. Havens opened up the fourth inning with a solo home run off Cryer, his second homer of the game and first multi-homer game of his career as South Carolina built up a 9-6 lead.
The Rebels would score twice in the sixth inning and once in the seventh inning to tie the game at nine apiece against the Gamecocks. Jordan Henry got things started for Ole Miss in the bottom of the sixth inning with a single and scored on a RBI triple from his brother Justin Henry. A one-out RBI single from Cody Overbeck scored Henry and brought the Rebels to within a run. Ole Miss tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning on a solo home run from Evan Button.
Ole Miss finished with a 16-9 hit advantage on the afternoon. Jordan Henry and Power each had three hits with Justin Henry and Cozart adding two apiece for the Rebels. Five of Carolina’s nine hits were home runs, that was the most home runs in a game for the Gamecocks this season. Smoak, Kline and Havens all had two hits apiece to lead Carolina at the plate.
