Rebels split double dip, lose series

Published 12:28 am Sunday, April 19, 2015

Ole Miss and Auburn moved their series finale up a day to stay ahead of the rain forecast for today.

The Rebels would have been better off with a rainout.

Melvin Gray went 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs, Cody Nulph was 4-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and three runs scored, and Auburn routed Ole Miss 14-0 in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

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Auburn (25-16, 7-11 Southeastern Conference) blew the game open by scoring five runs in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth to take a 10-0 lead.

Although the finale was a disaster for the Rebels (20-20, 8-10), and they lost the series, the day as a whole could have been worse. They did manage to win the first game 7-2 to salvage at least one victory from the weekend.

Errol Robinson went 3-for-3 with two doubles, Austin Knight drove in four runs, and J.B. Woodman went 3-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored.

Six of the Rebels’ 13 hits in game one went for extra bases. Ole Miss jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings and never trailed.

“Coach (Mike) Bianco said in the (pre-game) meeting, when we score first and throw the first punch, usually we are going to have the momentum and carry it over the entire game,” Robinson said.

Florida 2, Mississippi State 1

More than 13,000 fans — the 10th-largest on-campus crowd in NCAA baseball history — jammed Dudy Noble Field on Saturday to watch Mississippi State play Florida.

All of the ones wearing maroon and white walked away disappointed.

Ryan Larson’s RBI single in the seventh inning gave Florida (30-10, 11-6 SEC) the lead for good, and it went on to beat Mississippi State (22-18, 6-11) for the second day in a row.

Florida pitchers Dane Dunning, Aaron Rhodes and Bobby Poyner combined to hold MSU to five hits and one run. They walked only two batters.

Mississippi State’s Preston Brown and Trevor Fitts also pitched well, but came up on the short end of the decision.

Brown (5-4) scattered nine hits, but didn’t walk anyone and allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings. Fitts finished up with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Mississippi State only had three baserunners over the last five innings.

“Preston was outstanding today,” Mississippi State coach John Cohen said. “He did a great job early in counts, getting ahead of hitters. We don’t walk any batters and don’t make any errors. However, you have to score more than one run in this environment. One run will not win you the game often.”