Ole Miss beats Bama; SEC baseball roundup

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Posted 7:34AM on Saturday, April 20, 2002

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - Josh Christian broke a tie score with a three-run homer in the eighth inning to give Mississippi a 4-3 victory Friday night over Alabama in the first game of a weekend series. Alabama (33-6, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) had its 27-game home winning streak snapped and the loss was the first in 24 home games for the Crimson Tide this season. Ole Miss (31-8, 11-5) moved to within a game of first place in the SEC Western Division. Christian's homer was his fifth of the year. The Crimson Tide scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth on Scott McClanahan's two-run double to left center off Ole Miss reliever Al Simontis. Beam then came on in relief and got Adam Pavkovich to pop out to second to end the inning. Alabama threatened again in the bottom of the ninth as Jeremy Brown and Beau Hearod followed with a back-to-back one-out singles to move the tying run to second base. Beam would then retire Allen Rice and Travis Garner to notch his fourth save of the season. J.R. Pickens (7-2) allowed two runs on eight hits in seven innings to earn the win. Lance Cormier (8-1) pitched a complete game, allowing four runs, three earned, on 11 hits to take the loss. FLORIDA 13, VANDY 7 GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - Ryan Shealy and Aaron Davidson each hit two-run home runs as Florida erased a five-run deficit to beat Vanderbilt 13-7 Friday. Shealy's and Davidson's blasts tied the game, and the Gators (28-12, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) took the lead when Matt Goss scored on Robert Ransom's wild pitch in the sixth. John Kaye hit a solo home run for Vanderbilt (17-16, 3-11) as the Commodores built the early lead. Reliever David Bartelt (4-1) picked up won his second straight game for Florida. He went 4 1/3 innings in relief of starter Jimmy Ramshaw, giving up two runs and five hits, striking out one. Jamie Goldfarb pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief to pick up his first save. Vanderbilt starter Jeremy Sowers (3-5) was charged with the first seven Florida runs, six of them earned. He gave up 10 hits, struck out two and walked four. TENNESSEE 14, ARKANSAS 9 FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - Jordan Czarniecki had four hits and four RBI Friday night to help lead Tennessee to a 14-9 win over Arkansas in Southeastern Conference action. Walter Sevilla added two hits and two RBI in the winning effort for the Volunteers (20-20, 6-10 SEC). Both teams had 10 hits in all. Pitcher Ben Riley (3-2) got the win for the Vols, giving up four runs on five hits in six innings. Jarrett Gardner (1-1) took the loss. The Razorbacks (21-14, 5-8) offense was led by Michael Conner, who drove in three runs. LSU 9, S. CAROLINA 8 COLUMBIA, S.C. - LSU survived a five-run rally in the ninth to beat South Carolina 9-8 on Friday night. Jason Columbus' two-run homer in the fourth gave the Tigers (26-13, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) the lead for good. LSU added a run in the fifth, then used three hits, followed by a walk, two wild pitches and an error to take a 9-3 lead in the seventh. South Carolina (29-9, 9-6) climbed back in the game in the ninth on Kevin Melillo leadoff home run, the first of his career. Three batters later, Trey Dyson hit a two-run, two-out homer, followed by three straight hits, including an infield RBI single to pinch hitter Matt Riddle. But pinch hitter Gary Bell grounded out to the pitcher with a man on to end the game. Lane Mestepey (8-2) got the win despite giving up 12 hits and three home runs over 8 2/3 innings. Jake Thompson allowed three hits and two runs, but recorded the final out to get his third save. South Carolina starter Steven Bondurant (5-1) allowed five earned runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings to pick up the loss. AUBURN 7, MISSISSIPPI ST. 5 AUBURN, ALABAMA - Tug Hulett had three hits to lead Auburn but it was Mississippi State's four errors that gave the Tigers a 7-5 victory on Friday night. Auburn (26-14, 8-8 Southeastern Conference) trailed 5-1 after the top of the fifth inning and Mississippi State (22-14-1, 8-7) appeared to be firmly in control. Chad Henry hit a three-run double and Matthew Brinson hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning for State. Auburn answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 5-3. Chuck Jeroloman hit an RBI single in the sixth to cut it to 5-4. Trent Pratt hit an RBI single in the seventh and advanced to second base on a throwing error by Matthew Maniscalco. Later in the inning, Pratt scored on a fielding error that gave Auburn a 6-5 lead. The Tigers added the final run in the eighth. Mike Mueller (2-1) pitched 1/3 of an inning to earn the win. Jonathan Papelbon (2-3) allowed two runs, one earned, on one hit to take the loss.