Kentucky edges Rebs; MSU, USM victorious
Published 11:32 pm Friday, April 6, 2012
Going from its biggest series win of the season, into another three-game set with a top-tier team, the Ole Miss Rebels couldn’t keep the momentum rolling.
Cameron Flynn snapped a 2-all tie with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Kentucky held on to beat Ole Miss 3-2 on Friday night.
Ole Miss (20-9, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) had 14 hits, but left 10 runners on base and had three thrown out at the plate. Alex Yarbrough went 3-for-5, while five other players had two hits apiece.
The Rebels were coming off last week’s series victory with then-No. 1 Florida.
“Kentucky threw out three men at the plate, and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen that happen,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “You have to tip your hat. They maxed it out when they got an opportunity. We have to do a better job of getting the timely hit and the big hit when we have runners in scoring position.”
Andrew Mistone’s RBI double in the fourth inning put Ole Miss ahead 2-1, but Kentucky tied it in the sixth on Zac Zellers’ sacrifice fly and took the lead for good in the eighth.
Luke Maile doubled with one out for the Wildcats (29-2, 8-2), then Flynn followed with his base hit up the middle to bring in the go-ahead run.
Ole Miss put two runners on base with one out in the ninth, but couldn’t get the tying run in. Kentucky closer Trevor Gott struck out Austin Anderson, then got Yarbrough to ground out to second to nail down his seventh save of the season.