Ole Miss takes down Tennessee

By By Will Bardwell/staff writer
April 17, 2004
OXFORD Stephen Head blew a save for Ole Miss, but Alex Presley saved the No. 7 (Sports Weekly/ESPN) Rebels from a loss to No. 11 Tennessee on Friday.
After the Volunteers' two-run eighth inning sent the game into extra innings, Presley smashed a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th to propel Ole Miss to a 4-2 win at Swayze Field.
Ole Miss improved to 27-6 overall and 9-4 in the Southeastern Conference with the win and remained tied for first place with Arkansas in the SEC West. Arkansas beat Vanderbilt 6-3 on Friday.
Tennessee fell to 29-6 (9-4 SEC) but stayed three games ahead of South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt for first place in the SEC East.
Presley's walk-off home run saved Ole Miss from its first Friday loss of the season after the Volunteers rallied from a 2-0 deficit. Rebels starter Mark Holliman surrendered just five hits and held Tennessee scoreless through the first seven innings, but Vols outfielder Josh Alley led off the eighth with a solo homer to cut the Ole Miss lead in half.
Presley retired the next two batters and was replaced by Head, who had been playing first base. The first batter that Head faced, Chris Kemp, hit a two-out single, and Alex Suarez followed it up with an RBI double to tie the game 2-2.
Head struck out Chase Headley to end the eighth, and also pitched out of a two-on plight in the 10th inning.
Head, who was 2-of-5 from the plate, took the win and improved to 5-1.
Hits, clutch or otherwise, came few and far between for the Volunteers before their
eighth-inning rally. Holliman surrendered just five hits and held Tennessee scoreless prior to Alley's lead-off home run in the eighth.
Ole Miss led for most of the game after Seth Smith's RBI single in the second inning scored Chris Coghlan and gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead. Ole Miss went up by two in the third inning when Cooper Osteen scored from third on a Brian Pettway grounder.
The Rebels can bounce back from their first SEC series loss of the year a week ago with one more win over Tennessee. After beating Auburn 6-1 in the series opener on April 9, Ole Miss lost both games of a doubleheader on Sunday.
General admission tickets are still available for today's game, which begins at 4 p.m.