FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Matt Crouse and Jake Morgan combined for a strong effort on the mound, and Matt Tracy”s sacrifice fly provided the winning margin Thursday to lead the University of Mississippi baseball team to a 2-1 victory against the University of Arkansas in a Southeastern Conference game at Baum Stadium.
Arkansas (34-18, 13-15 SEC) used a solo home run by Colin Kuhn in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead before Ole Miss (30-23, 13-15) responded with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh.
Matt Crouse (7-4) worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed only one run on five hits to get the win. He also struck out four and walked two. Morgan then worked the final 2 2/3 innings for his sixth save of the season. He allowed one hit, a walk, and struck out four.
Morgan entered the game in the seventh with two men on and got a crucial groundball double play with the bases loaded to keep Arkansas off the board and preserve the win.
“Both pitching staffs were great tonight, especially both starters,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “They matched each other pitch for pitch. Both clubs hit some hard balls right at people, but the pitchers really dominated early. We got some timely hits and a big double play to get out of the seventh inning. There were very few opportunities tonight, we just succeeded on the few we had.”
Both pitchers cruised early, putting zeros on the board through the first five and a half innings, as neither team could get an opportunity to score.
Kuhn broke up the pitcher”s duel in the sixth, hitting a ball into the bullpen in left field with one out to give the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead.
Ole Miss answered in the seventh. Alex Yarbrough reached on an infield single deep to the hole at second. Matt Smith singled to move Yarbrough to second before a single to right center from Matt Snyder scored Yarbrough and put men at the corners. A sacrifice fly to left from Matt Tracy brought home Smith to provide the final margin.
Arkansas threatened in the bottom half of the inning, putting men at the corners with one out when the Rebels turned to Morgan. The first batter walked to load the bags, but Morgan got the next batter to hit into a double play to end the inning.
The win pulled Ole Miss into a four-way tie for second in the SEC Western Division with two games left in the season.
Ole Miss and Arkansas will play Game 2 of the three-game series at 6 tonight (CSS).
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