Ole Miss defeats UT Vols
By By Will Bardwell/staff writer
April 18, 2004
OXFORD Alex Presley's slump is officially over.
The freshman outfielder hit his second game-winning home run in as many days on Saturday, helping No. 7 (Sports Weekly/ESPN) Ole Miss squeak past No. 11 Tennessee 4-3.
With the Rebels trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth in front of the largest crowd in Swayze Field history, Presley smashed a first-pitch fastball to deep left-center field. Volunteers left fielder Todd Martin backpedaled, leaped at the wall and appeared to make the catch.
Most of the 9,260 fans let out a collective moan, but when the overflow crowd in left field erupted in celebration, Presley and fellow base runner Seth Smith paused in their tracks.
Presley's home run represented the third time during the game that the Rebels came back from a deficit. Tennessee also led 1-0 in the second inning and 2-1 after the fourth.
Now 30-6 overall and 10-4 in Southeastern Conference play, Ole Miss remained tied with Arkansas for first place in the SEC West after the Razorbacks' 9-4 win over Vanderbilt. Tennessee, which has lost three straight, is 29-8 (9-5 SEC).
Stephen Head, moving from first base to the pitcher's mound in his second relief effort of the series, yielded a lead-off single to Tennessee outfielder Michael Rivera in the top of the ninth. But Head, who threw 58 pitches on Friday, recovered by forcing Josh Alley to ground into a double play before striking out Eric King to end the game.
Head pitched the final inning in relief of Jeremy Zick, who picked up the win after giving up Tennessee's go-ahead run in the top of the eighth. With one out, Vols shortstop Brian Cleveland hit a deep sacrifice fly, allowing Alex Suarez to easily score from third for a 3-2 Tennessee lead.
Rebels starter Eric Fowler went seven innings, scattering eight hits and allowing two earned runs.
But as were the other two leads, this one was short-lived. Presley has now hit half of his four home runs this season in the past two days.
Ole Miss will go for its first sweep over the Volunteers since 1989 in today's series finale, which begins at 1:30 p.m.
