South Carolina sweeps Ole Miss in twinbill

Published 12:30 am Sunday, March 16, 2014

South Carolina's Max Schrock (22) is mobbed at home plate after hitting a game-tying home run in the ninth inning Saturday against Ole Miss. South Carolina went on to win, 5-4, and then beat Ole Miss 3-1 in the second game of a doubleheader. Dwayne McLemore/The State/MCT

South Carolina’s Max Schrock (22) is mobbed at home plate after hitting a game-tying home run in the ninth inning Saturday against Ole Miss. South Carolina went on to win, 5-4, and then beat Ole Miss 3-1 in the second game of a doubleheader. Dwayne McLemore/The State/MCT

Ole Miss got some attention, but not a series victory, against top-ranked South Carolina.

The Gamecocks rallied from four runs down Saturday, tying the game on a two-run pinch-hit homer by Max Schrock in the bottom of the ninth inning and then winning it on Brison Celek’s RBI single in the 10th, to beat Ole Miss 5-4 in the first game of a doubleheader.

In game two, pitchers Cody Mincey and Joel Seddon combined for 32⁄3 innings of scoreless relief to lead South Carolina to a 3-1 victory. Wil Crowe started and allowed one run in 51⁄3 innings to get the win.

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Ole Miss’ Will Allen was 6-for-9 with three doubles, two RBIs and a run scored in the doubleheader.

Ole Miss (17-4, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) raised some eyebrows by handing South Carolina (18-1, 2-1) its first loss of the season, 6-4, in the series opener Friday night. The Rebels gave the Gamecocks all they could handle Saturday, but couldn’t win the series.

“We’ve been in a lot of close games and they’ve all gone our way until today, and it just didn’t happen that way this time,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “It comes down to making the hit in a couple of at-bats and making a couple of pitches. They seemed to get all of the hits when they needed them today. That’s how you win in this league.”

Ole Miss jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game one, only to see it slip away in the late innings.

South Carolina scored a run in the sixth inning, then cut it to 4-2 in the ninth on an RBI single by Conner Bright. Schrock followed with his two-run homer to tie the game at 4.

In the 10th, Grayson Greiner led off with a single and was bunted to second. Celek — another pinch-hitter — delivered a base hit to right to bring in Greiner with the winning run.

In game two, Tanner English’s bunt single in the fifth inning scored Bright with the go-ahead run and the Gamecocks added an insurance run in the eighth on Joey Pankake’s RBI single.

 Southern Miss 9-3, Marshall 5-5

Southern Miss won the first game of a doubleheader with Marshall on Saturday to take the series, but couldn’t finish the sweep.

Connor Barron, Tim Lynch and Matt Durst all homered to lead the Golden Eagles to a 9-5 victory in game one. Southern Miss scored five runs in the first inning and never trailed.

Durst finished 3-for-5 with a double and a solo home run, and Andrew Furr went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.

Marshall (6-12, 3-3 Conference USA) turned the tables in game two, as Andrew Dundon went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Thundering Herd to a 5-3 win.

Austin Roussel homered for Southern Miss (9-11, 2-1).

The series finale was originally scheduled for today, but was moved up to Saturday because of an approaching winter storm that’s threatening the eastern third of the country.

Several other C-USA series also finished a day early on Saturday.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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