Monday, June 4, 2007

Rebel's Bats Clobber Sam Houston St.


OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- No. 9 batter Alex Kliman had four hits and drove in five runs - nearly half his season total of 12 RBIs - as Ole Miss beat Sam Houston 21-13 on Sunday to win the NCAA Oxford regional.

Kliman was one of nine Ole Miss hitters with at least one RBI and the Rebels set a season high for runs and hits (22). Ole Miss batted around in two innings against the Bearkats (40-24), who finally ran out of juice after two consecutive comeback victories in the regional.

The first nine Rebels (40-23) who batted in the fourth inning scored to put the game away and Ole Miss failed to score in just two innings.

Ole Miss advances to its third straight super regional. The Rebels were ousted by Miami and Texas the last two seasons. They have not been to the College World Series since 1972.

Ole Miss will travel to Arizona State next weekend, after the Sun Devils defeated Nebraska Sunday to win the Tempe regional championship.

Two errors helped Sam Houston to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Ole Miss batted around for the first time in the bottom of the inning and led 6-3.

The Bearkats, who came from behind four times earlier Sunday to eliminate Southern Miss 12-11 in 11 innings, weren't done mounting comebacks. Bobby Verbick hit a three-run homer and Sam Houston scored five runs in the top of the fourth to take an 8-7 lead.

But the Rebels pounced in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of three Bearkats errors and six hits to take a 16-8 lead.

Reliever Craig Rodriguez (2-2) took over in the fourth inning and picked up the win after giving up two hits and one run in 3 1-3 innings. Jim Bob Farris (0-1) gave up 13 hits and 14 runs, 10 earned, in the loss.

Evan Button finished with three runs and three RBIs for Ole Miss. Justin Henry was 4-for-5 from the dish, and Zack Cozart and Zach Miller collected three hits apiece.

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