[5/23/03]HOOVER, Ala. In the on-deck circle, Mississippi State’s Matthew Maniscalco had dreams of ending a marathon SEC Tournament game against archrival Ole Miss.

He barely had time to get on his helmet when a teammate ended it for him.

Freshman Thomas Berkery hit a two-out fastball over the left-field fence at cavernous Hoover Metropolitan Stadium to lift the Bulldogs (39-16-1) to a thrilling 5-4 victory in 12 innings.

“Coach (Ron) Polk asked me how far it cleared the fence by,” said Maniscalco, who went 2-for-6 and scored two runs. “I said I didn’t know because I was too busy jumping around.”

The shot ended a game that lasted nearly four hours and propelled Mississippi State into tonight’s second-round game against LSU at 8. Ole Miss (33-24) will play Arkansas at 1 p.m.

Maniscalco wasn’t the only person not to see the ball sail over the fence. Ole Miss third baseman Brian Pettway stood deadpanned at third base.

“Oh, I knew it was gone,” said the former Warren Central standout, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and two walks. “I knew the wind wasn’t going to hold that one in.”

The homer was the first of the tournament, which was in its third game of the day. Berkery said he knew it when he hit it.

“I got a good pitch to hit and got a good piece of it,” Berkery said. “It’s amazing.”

Ole Miss looked close to ending a four-game losing streak to the Bulldogs with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to chase MSU ace Paul Maholm, and take a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the inning.

Seth Smith’s sinking line drive off of relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon scored pinch runner Matt Mossberg to tie the game at 4-4. Matt Tolbert, who also singled in the inning, moved to third on Smith’s single and scored on a wild pitch for the 5-4 lead.

“I don’t want anyone to think that we were happy or anything,” Maniscalco said of the Rebels’ go-ahead run. “We didn’t panic. Steve (Gendron) and Craig (Tatum) came up huge for us after that.”

Gendron singled and scored on a Tatum double one of 14 Mississippi State hits off four Ole Miss pitchers to tie the game at 5-5.

Mississippi State loaded the bases with two outs in the inning, and former Vicksburg High standout Robby Goodson scheduled to hit. J.B. Tucker pinch hit for Goodson and grounded out to Pettway to end the rally.

The score stayed tied until the 12th inning. Pettway belted a two-out single, but winning pitcher Jamie Gant coaxed a flyout by Bryce Morrison to end the Rebels’ half-inning and set up Berkery’s heroics.

Brae Wright, who took the loss, retired Tucker and Joseph Hunter to start the bottom of the 12th before Berkery ended it.

“I was sitting in the dugout and one of the players said that (Wright) was going to make a mistake with an inside fastball and he’s going to end it,” said Maholm, who scattered eight hits and allowed four runs over 8 1/3 innings.

Ole Miss scored a run in the top of the first off of Maholm, who turned down a lucrative professional contract as a high school senior to come to Mississippi State, but the Rebels had only one hit over the next five innings.

“He is a such a competitor,” Pettway said of the left-handed Maholm. “He’s a great pitcher. He wasn’t throwing that hard, but he was locating the ball and keeping us off balance.”

Mississippi State scored single runs in the second and fifth innings to take a 2-1 lead.

Ole Miss tied the game again with a run in the seventh, before the Bulldogs retook the lead in the bottom of the inning, 3-2.

Gant pitched two innings of scoreless relief to earn his fourth win of the season. Wright pitched 3 1/3 innings, and allowed one run on two hits to take the loss.

“We have to get our minds right and put this one behind us,” Pettway said. “If we win tomorrow, we keep playing. We’ll just go from there.”