Ole Miss beats State for Mayor's Trophy win

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - Impressive displays of power from Josh Christian at the plate and T.J. Beam on the mound has the Mayor&#39;s Trophy heading back to Oxford. <br> <br> Christian drove in three runs with a home run and a double and Beam struck six in the final three innings to lead Mississippi to an 8-4 victory over Mississippi State in the Mayor&#39;s Trophy Game on Wednesday night. <br> <br> Ole Miss (22-7) extended its winning streak to seven games and won the annual meeting with the Bulldogs at Smith-Wills Stadium for the third time in four seasons. <br> <br> Matthew Maniscalco had two hits, two RBIs and a stolen base for Mississippi State (15-10-1), which has won 13 of the 23 Mayor&#39;s Trophy games. <br> <br> The crowd of 5,911 was the fifth largest for a Mayor&#39;s Trophy Game. <br> <br> Christian launched a long two-run home run, his fourth of the season, to left field off reliever Ryan Carroll that gave the Rebels an 8-4 lead in the seventh. <br> <br> Earlier in the game, Christian, from nearby Clinton, hit a deep drive to center that was caught. <br> <br> ``I knew I hit the first one good and had a good at-bat,&#39;&#39; he said. ``I just wanted to carry that over to the next at-bat. I got a good pitch to hit and got good solid wood on it and luckily it carried out.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Beam earned his second save, allowing just two hits. He retired the first eight men he faced and reached 95 mph with his fastball. <br> <br> ``Christian&#39;s ball really hurt us and Beam came in a really shut the door,&#39;&#39; Mississippi State coach Ron Polk said. <br> <br> Beam, a junior college transfer from Arizona, was pumped by his first taste of the Mississippi-Mississippi State rivalry. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s just like the Arizona State-U of A (Arizona) rivalry,&#39;&#39; he said. ``It doesn&#39;t matter where you&#39;re from, you want to play hard when you play your rival.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Ole Miss opened the second inning with four straight hits, including an RBI double by Christian and consecutive bunt singles by Matt Tolbert and Charlie Waite. <br> <br> Seth Smith capped the inning with an RBI double that gave Ole Miss a 4-0 lead against starter Jacob Blakeney (0-2). <br> <br> Blakeney allowed four runs and eight hits in three innings. <br> <br> Drew Rogers singled in his first at-bat for Ole Miss and was hit by a pitch in his second to extend his streak of plate appearances reaching base to 12. The streak ended when Rogers popped out to end the fourth. <br> <br> The Rebels extended their lead to 6-1 in the fourth with the help of a Bulldogs error. After Clint Farrar led off with a double against reliever Steven Dowe, Burney Hutchinson laid down a bunt. <br> <br> Catcher Jason Burkley fielded the well-placed ball, but his throw sailed into foul territory, allowing Farrar to score. <br> <br> Chad Sterbens drove in Hutchinson two batters later with an infield single. <br> <br> The Bulldogs tightened things in the fourth against reliever Al Simontis, who replaced starter Mike Gray (2-0) in the third inning. <br> <br> Gary allowed five walks, one hit and a run in 2 2-3 innings. <br> <br> Simontis allowed three runs in 3 1-3 innings of relief for Ole Miss. <br> <br> Mississippi State opened the fourth with three straight hits, the last an RBI single by Michael Brown. <br> <br> An out later, Maniscalco doubled to right center, scoring two and cutting the lead to 6-4. <br> <br> The Bulldogs, who are 5-6 in their last 11 games, left 10 on base. <br> <br> ``We had a couple of opportunities,&#39;&#39; Polk said. ``We haven&#39;t hit the ball very hard.&#34;