No. 21 Mizzou Drops Close Contest to Ole Miss

Sunday, May 3

Columbia, Mo.

1:05 PM

University of Missouri

28-20, 14-10

Ole Miss

25-24, 11-13

Ole Miss

Mizzou

5/3/2015 11:20:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

COLUMBIA, Mo. - No. 21 Mizzou baseball (28-20, 14-10) fell to the Ole Miss Rebels (25-24, 11-13) by a 4-3 final score on Sunday afternoon (May 3) at Taylor Stadium. The Rebels were able to avoid the Mizzou sweep behind 10 hits including two homeruns from Sikes Orvis.

Orvis crushed two homeruns in back-to-back at bats in the second and fourth innings, respectively, to give the Rebels a 2-0 lead. The Tigers responded in the bottom of the fourth inning with a run of their own after Shane Benes (St. Louis, Mo.) smashed a solo shot over the right field wall for his first career homer. Peter Fairbanks (St. Louis, Mo) was lifted after four innings for Andrew Schwaab (St. Charles, Mo.). Schwaab pitched three innings, striking out a career-high six Rebel batters.

Jake Ivory (St. Charles, Mo.) and Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) reached on singles in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Tigers were unable to capitalize after an interference call gave Ole Miss a 5-3 double play. Ole Miss added another run to their 3-1 lead in the top of the eighth with a J.B. Woodman RBI sacrifice bunt. The Tigers grabbed two runs in the bottom half of the frame. Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.) and Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) smoked a two-RBi single to right field for his fourth consecutive game with an RBI. Bond's single brought the Tigers within one, 4-3. Both teams went 1-2-3 in the ninth inning as Ole Miss sealed the victory.

Postgame Notes:

Brett Peel stole his 20th base of the year in the bottom of the third inning. He tied Blake Brown (2011) for 4th all-time for most stolen bases in a single season.
Brett Bond gunned down a baserunner in the top of the second inning to give him three baserunners caught stealing this week. He had four on the year going into Tuesday.
Ryan Howard got the first extra base hit for Mizzou with a double in the first inning. It was his 11th double of the year, good for second on the team.
Shane Benes hit his first career homerun in the fourth inning, an opposite field shot.
Jake Ivory recorded two hits on the day, giving him back-to-back games with multi-hit performances. Ivory now has 4 multiple-hit games on the year.
Andrew Schwaab recorded a career high six strikeouts in three innings of relief
Brett Bond drove in two runs with a single in the bottom of the eighth inning. Sunday's contest made it four straight games with an RBI for Bond.
Pete Fairbanks allowed just two runs over four innings pitched on Sunday. He has allowed three or fewer runs in every start this year.
Eight of the nine Mizzou batters recorded a hit on the day.

Coach's Corner
Thoughts on the game...
"We just had to pitch out of too many situations today. We came up a little bit short. The guys were ready to play and they competed hard, but Ole Miss was the better ball club today."

On the different types of plays in the game...
"Well a check swing with guys on first and third at that point in the game was huge call that went against us. We had two outs and then they score their third run. We hit a batter, had an error then they scored again."

On the team's comeback in the eighth inning...
"I was happy with it. All we ask is these guys show up for nine innings."

Tracking the Tigers:
The Mizzou Tigers complete their four-game home stand Tuesday (May 5) against SEMO. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT. The Tigers are bound for Baton Rouge, La., this weekend for a cross-divisional series against the No. 1 LSU Tigers. For all the latest on Mizzou baseball, stop by MUTigers.com, catch game broadcasts by Tex Little on KTGR or follow the team on Twitter @MizzouBaseball.