No. 4 Rebels Nip State 4-2 To Win Series
April 04, 2004 | Baseball
Official Game Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi pitcher Stephen Head threw his first complete game of the season Sunday afternoon to lead the fourth-ranked Rebels to a series-clinching 4-2 win over Mississippi State at Dudy Noble Field.
A sun-drenched Dudy Noble Field crowd of 4,338 watched as the Rebels took an SEC series from the Bulldogs for the first time since 1999. Ole Miss won the 7-1 Friday night with MSU battling back for a 7-5 victory Saturday afternoon.
Fourth-ranked Ole Miss won an SEC series for the third time in as many weekends to move to 24-4 overall and 7-2 in league play. Ole Miss remained one game ahead of LSU in the Western Division standings. The Bulldogs dropped their third conference weekend series to fall to 17-10 overall and 3-6 inside conference.
"Playing Mississippi State has been a mental challenge," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. "Today, we got great pitching and made the most of a handful of opportunities. Stephen really carried us on the mound today."
Head (4-0) threw 131 pitches, including 89 strikes. It was the third complete game of his career and the fourth by an Ole Miss hurler this season.
"I just wanted to go out there, throw strikes, and give my team a chance to win," Head said. "We had a couple of big hits and made all the plays on defense. This was a good weekend for our team."
Brad Corley hit a two-run home run, his fourth of the season, in the MSU sixth inning giving the Bulldogs their only lead of the contest at 2-1.
"I was just trying to get (Jeffrey Rea) home from third," Corley said. "Then the ball went out of the park. It really got our crowd going, but unfortunately we couldn't get the job done from there."
Ole Miss regained the lead quickly, scoring twice in its half of the seventh inning.
Chris Coghlan drew a walk to start the inning. The Ole Miss third baseman then took second base on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Barry Gunther. Cooper Osteen followed with a single through the left side, giving the Rebels runners at first and third base.
Matt Tolbert followed with a line drive that glance off the glove of Rea at second base. Instead of a possible double play, the Bulldogs were charged with their only error in the game and Coghlan scored to tie the game 2-2.
That play ended MSU starter Jeff Lacher?s time on the mound. Sophomore lefty Brooks Dunn entered in relief and faced Head at his first batter. This time, Head hit a chopper to first base. The Bulldogs threw to second for the force but could not complete the double play, allowing Osteen to score the eventual game-winning run.
"A couple of plays were the difference in the game," Lacher said. "We had our chances and we got the ground balls. Unfortunately, it was Ole Miss' day because they were able to score the runs on each of those plays."
The Rebels tacked on an insurance score in the eighth inning, and that was more than enough for Head, who grew stronger as the contest progressed. Head retired the final seven batters he faced, three on strikeouts. Head fanned eight, hit a batter and walked one while facing 34 total batters.
"Give Stephen Head credit for pitching a quality ball game," MSU coach Ron Polk said. "At the same time, other than a ball hit hard by (Jeff) Butts to left field, we didn't do much at the plate. We had a lot of routine pop-ups and not the hard hit line drive outs that show good bat discipline."
Lacher (2-4) allowed eight hits and three runs (two earned) in 6 1/3 innings of work. Dunn pitched one inning, while Todd Doolittle finished the contest for the Bulldogs.
Osteen, Head, Alex Presley and Coghlan each had two singles apiece. A Charlie Babineaux doubled closed a nine-hit attack. Corley's home run was coupled with a Rea double and singles by Craig Tatum, Thomas Berkery and Butts to compose State's five-hit total.
MSU opens a run of six road games Tuesday in Hattiesburg, Miss., with a 6:30 p.m. matchup with No. 15 Southern Miss. State and USM meet again Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. before the Bulldogs resume conference play Apr. 9-11 with an Easter weekend series at Kentucky.
| MISSISSIPPI 4, MSU 2 | |||||||
| Ole Miss (24-4) | 000 | 0001 | 210 | - | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| MSU (17-10) | 000 | 002 | 000 | - | 2 | 5 | 1 |
WP-Head (4-0). LP-Lacher (2-4). 2B-Babineaux, Rea. HR-Corley (4). T-2:39. A-4,338 (7,611 paid).
