Rebels Stay Alive In SEC Tournament With An 11-Inning Win Over Arkansas
Ole Miss will play either LSU or Mississippi State at 1 p.m., on Saturday.
May 23, 2003
HOOVER, Ala. - Seth Smith delivered a two-out RBI single to tie the game and Chad Sterbens followed two batters later with a game-winning RBI single with the bases loaded to lift Ole Miss to an 8-7 win over Arkansas in 11 innings Friday afternoon, in an elimination game at the 2003 SEC Tournament.
The Rebels (34-24) will now play the loser of tonight's game between Mississippi State and LSU Saturday at 1 p.m., in another elimination game. Arkansas fell to 34-20 with the loss and will now wait until Monday to see if the Razorbacks earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas took a 7-6 lead in the top of the 11th when Andrew Wishy hit an infield single to second that allowed Scott Hode, who reached on a one-out single, to score from third.
In the bottom of the 11th, pinch-hitter Barry Gunther reached on a two-base error and was lifted for pinch-runner Mark Holliman. Matt Tolbert followed with a sac bunt to advance Holliman to third.
The Razorbacks then brought in the infield and pitcher Charley Boyce coaxed Jonathan Swearingen to hit a bouncer to third. Holliman was then caught in a run down and tagged for the second out of the inning, however, Swearingen hustled to second on the play to move into scoring position. Boyce then hit Charlie Waite with a pitch to put runners on first and second, and Smith followed with a single to left off a 1-1 pitch. Swearingen scored on the play to make it 7-7 and Waite advanced to third.
Stephen Head then came to the plate and after falling behind in the count 2-0, Boyce intentionally walked Head to load the bases and set the stage for Sterbens. Sterbens swung at Boyce's first pitch and lined it into right center to score Waite.
Freshman Brian Pettway (1-0), making his second appearance the season, faced just one batter, striking out Haas Pratt in the 11th, and was credited with his first career win.
Boyce (5-5) was charged with the loss. He allowed two unearned runs, on two hits and two walks, while striking out one in two innings of relief.
Left fielder Nick Pitts went 5-for-6 and third baseman Clay Goodwin went 3-for-4 as Arkansas out-hit Ole Miss 16-13. Wishy also went 2-for-6 with three RBIs for the Razorbacks. He hit his eighth home run of the year to give Arkansas a 2-0 lead in the first.
The Rebels had six players that recorded two hits each.
With the 11-inning game Thursday, Ole Miss became the first team in SEC Tournament history to play back-to-back extra-inning games. The Rebels lost to Mississippi State 5-4 in 12 innings in a first-round game on Thursday.
Ole Miss 8, Arkansas 7 (May 23, 2003 at Auburn, Ala.)
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Arkansas 200 200 110 01 - 7 16 3 (34-20)
Ole Miss 200 031 000 02 - 8 13 3 (34-24)
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Pitchers: Arkansas - Sawatski; Roehl(5); Boyce(9). Ole Miss - TJ Beam; Eric Fowler(9);
B. Pettway(11).
Win-B. Pettway(1-0) Loss-Boyce(5-5) T-3:45 A-4272
HR AR - Wishy (8).
Game notes:
Game Five 2003 SEC Tournament
Game: UM0523
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