Rebels fall to Hogs
By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
May 9, 2004
OXFORD Inconsistent hitting finally came back to haunt Ole Miss on Saturday.
The No. 12 (Baseball America) Rebels pounded out 10 hits but never strung more than two of them together in a 3-1 loss to No. 8 Arkansas.
Rebels junior Seth Smith, whose solo homer on Friday was the difference in a 1-0 Ole Miss win, again provided his team's only run on a solo shot in the sixth.
The Rebels have now scored just two runs over their last 27 innings both on Smith home runs.
The Rebels (34-15, 13-10 Southeastern Conference), who slipped three games behind the Razorbacks (33-14, 16-7 SEC) in the SEC West standings, were without the pitching services of Stephen Head, who was replaced about 10 minutes before the game. In Head's place, sophomore Anthony Cupps took the loss, allowing 10 runs and three hits over six innings.
Head said he "tweaked" a muscle in his throwing shoulder on Friday and had not recovered in time for Saturday's game. He played the entire game at first base and went 1-for-4 from the plate.
Most of Arkansas' big hits came early against Cupps, who learned he was the starting pitcher about 10 minutes before game time. The Razorbacks' first four batters reached safely on singles and walks, but Cupps struck out the next two hitters and induced a ground ball to end the inning after allowing just one run.
The Razorbacks scored again in the second and the sixth for a brief 3-0 lead before Smith's home run put Ole Miss on the board.
The Rebels threatened in the eighth when Brian Pettway and Chris Coghlan connected for singles with two outs, but Charlie Babineaux struck out to end the inning. Babineaux, who went 0-for-4 and left six runners on base, has just one hit in his last 19 at-bats.
Alex Presley hit a lead-off single for Ole Miss in the bottom of the ninth but went down in a game-ending double play.
A win today would bring Ole Miss within two games of the first-place Razorbacks with two weeks left in the season. A loss would push the Rebels four games back with six games to go something Head admitted would cripple hopes for a division or league championship.
