Ole Miss slips past Redhawks in ninth

OXFORD, Miss. -- Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Mark Hogan was in no mood to talk about moral victories after Tuesday night's game against Ole Miss.

Instead, blown opportunities were the topic of discussion.

Four walks and two errors, many of which led to Ole Miss runs, came back to haunt the Redhawks in a 6-5 loss to the No. 14-ranked Rebels in front of 2,687 at Oxford-University Stadium.

Brian Pettway's game-winning double off reliever Joey Evans drove in Chris Coghlan and extended Ole Miss' winning streak to nine. Pettway's hit came after the Redhawks rallied from a two-run deficit in the top of the ninth.

Pinch-hitter Chris Gibson's single scored Keith Wollis and Eric Hortsman to tie the score at 5-5.

"I'm more disappointed than I am pleased that we hung in there, because Ole Miss scored four of their six runs on three walks and a hit batsman," Hogan said. "You can't give that club those type of opportunities. We did, and they took advantage."

Ole Miss improved to 14-3 on the season, while the Redhawks had their three-game winning streak snapped to fall to 6-8.

Southeast took a 2-0 lead in the second inning and was tied at 3-3 with the Rebels through five. By then, Jamie McAlister had relieved Redhawks starter Derek Herbig, who was chased after giving up five hits and three runs in 3 1/3 innings.

Evans (1-1) took the loss for the Redhawks after giving up three hits and one earned run in 1 1/3 innings.

The Rebels pulled out the win despite committing three errors -- their second-most in a game this season -- and blowing a workmanlike performance from starter Tommy Baumgardner. The junior lefty took a no-decision after scattering five hits, four strikeouts and a walk in 6 2/3 innings of work.

Ole Miss outhit the Redhawks 10-8, marking the 14th straight games it has posted at least 10 hits. Frankie Montiel had two hits to lead the Redhawks.

"I don't want to take anything away from Southeast Missouri, but we played an atrocious game out in the field," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. "We made life real difficult tonight, and it shouldn't have been that way."

Gibson said the way Tuesday's game ended makes his team even more confident it can pull off an upset when the two-game series concludes at 2 p.m. today.

"After this one, we'll definitely be ready for tomorrow," Gibson said. "We not only feel we can hang with these guys, we know we can beat them."