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.

Oxford Regional All Tournament Team

NCAA Oxford Regional All-Tournament Team

MVP: Lance Lynn, P, Ole Miss
C, Alex Kliman, Ole Miss
1B, Josh Dew, Troy
2B, Zach Miller, Ole Miss
3B, Chris Matesich, Southern Miss
SS, Brian Dozier, Southern Miss
OF, Jordan Henry, Ole Miss

OF, Keith Stein, Sam Houston

OF, Justin Henry, Ole Miss

OF, Bobby Verbick, Sam Houston

DH, Karl Krailo, Sam Houston

P, Lance Lynn, Ole Miss
P, Ryan Belanger, Southern Miss

Oxford Regional to feature 2 Mississippi Schools

Inside the Oxford Regional

OLE MISS


Seed: No. 1 (37-23 overall, 16-14 SEC)


Coach: Mike Bianco


Top hitters: Jordan Henry (.365, 54 runs, 14 RBIs); Justin Henry (.378, 8 3Bs, 35 RBIs); Zach Miller (.370, 3 HRs, 26 RBIs)


Top pitchers: Will Kline (6-2, 3.68 ERA); Lance Lynn (7-4, 2.77 ERA)


The skinny: Ole Miss' late-game struggles were highlighted in the second SEC Tournament loss to Vanderbilt. Relief pitching, timely hitting remain question marks, but the Rebels boast plenty of NCAA Regional experience.

SOUTHERN MISS


Seed: No. 2 (38-21 overall, 14-10 Conference USA)


Coach: Corky Palmer


Top hitters: Trey Sutton (.368, 18 2Bs, 69 runs); Jody Blount (.326, 33 RBIs, 6 HRs); Brian Dozier (.335, 14 2Bs, 53 runs)


Top pitchers: Ryan Belanger (7-4, 2.63 ERA); Barry Bowden (7-3, 3.12 ERA); David Clark (8-5, 4.69 ERA)


The skinny: Timely hitting disappeared in back-to-back losses that knocked the Golden Eagles from the C-USA Tournament. If the bats come back, USM has enough pitching to threaten. Sutton's return from a knee injury certainly wouldn't hurt the Eagles' chances.

TROY


Seed: No. 3 (34-25 overall, 16-14 Sun Belt)


Coach: Bobby Pierce


Top hitters: Kevin Weidlich (.362, 13 2Bs, 11 HRs, 55 RBIs); Clint Robinson (.359, 18 2Bs, 17 HRs, 69 RBIs); Edgar Ramirez (.338, 16 2Bs, 11 HRs, 44 RBIs)


Top pitchers: Josh Dew (7-2, 2.56 ERA, 10 saves); Craig Snipes (6-5, 5.18 ERA); Joe Hallahan (5-6, 5.66 ERA)


The skinny: The Trojans surprised some by making the field, but a strong schedule and solid RPI earned them a spot. As usual, Troy can swing the bats (.304 team average), and a team 5.78 ERA means it will have to for it to advance.

SAM HOUSTON STATE


Seed: No. 4 (38-22 overall, 18-12 Southland)


Coach: Mark Johnson


Top hitters: Bobby Verbick (.373, 22 2Bs, 13 HRs, 75 RBIs); Karl Krailo (.357, 15 2Bs, 45 RBIs); Keith Stein (.297, 12 2Bs, 48 runs)


Top pitchers: Luke Prihoda (6-3, 1.21 ERA, 17 saves); Jacob Howard (11-5, 2.74 ERA); Jesse Marshall (8-3, 3.58 ERA)


The skinny: The Bearkats are making their first trip to the NCAAs since 1996 after going 4-0 to win the Southland Conference Tournament and earn an automatic berth. Prihoda, who had a win and two saves in the tourney, was the Southland's pitcher of the year.

Clemens not Ready to Return Against Sox

The Yankees made it official last night: Roger Clemens will not make his return to the majors this weekend against the Red Sox. And the Sox are skipping Julian Tavarez's turn to realign their rotation against the Bombers.

The matchups are: Chien-Ming Wang vs. Tim Wakefield Friday; Mike Mussina vs. Curt Schilling Saturday afternoon; Andy Pettitte vs. Josh Beckett Sunday night. The Sox will push back Tavarez to start Monday against the Athletics in Oakland.

Yankees manager Joe Torre would not commit to the exact date that Clemens will return, but said it likely will be Monday night in Chicago against the White Sox.

"I'm not disappointed that he's not pitching at Fenway," Torre told reporters last night in Toronto. "I don't think that series needs any more hype than it gets every time we play it, whether it's in Fenway or at the Stadium.

"You'd obviously be tempted if you had a kid pitching and you can replace him with Roger Clemens. When you have Wang, Moose, and Andy, there's really not the temptation to do that."

Torre said he preferred to wait to talk to Clemens personally before committing to the Chicago date.

If Clemens is put on the Yankees roster Monday, he would earn $18,207,665 this season, a prorated share of his $28,000,022 salary.


Humor him
David Ortiz took batting practice again yesterday but was held out a third straight game because of tightness in his hamstrings. Ortiz, who Terry Francona said will be back in the lineup tonight, blamed the condition on a recent bout of dehydration. He was put on IVs last weekend in Texas.

"I'm done for the year," Ortiz answered in jest when someone asked in a similar vein whether he was ever going to play again. "I'm going to sit on my average."

He might as well think about his average, it was suggested to him, since he no longer hits home runs and has become a singles hitter. "Yeah," Ortiz said, "I'm becoming Ichiro."

Asked how he hurt the hamstrings, Ortiz said, "I've been running a lot, don't you see? They've been walking me every day."

Turning serious, he added, "Bad flu. The days I was dehydrated, all that stuff. It hurts every time I use my legs. But we've done a lot of things that are making me feel better. I might be in tomorrow. I'm not sure. We'll see."

Ortiz said he was following doctor's advice. But he rejected the notion that it's easier for him not to play when others, like Kevin Youkilis, are hitting. "I don't like no day off, bro," he said. "The situation can get worse, so it's better to lose a couple of days now than aggravating it and be out when the team really needs you."

Beckett's Return a 7 Inning 2 Run Success

Five straight wins and the best record in baseball (36-15), but when Terry Francona surveys the Red Sox clubhouse, what does he see?


His players would acknowledge his superiority, he said, in this game of cards and pegs. "By far the best," he said, "if they're being honest."

Josh Beckett had more time than he would have liked to sharpen his card game, having spent two weeks on the disabled list because of torn skin on the middle finger of his pitching hand. But back to dealing at the game he plays best, Beckett kept alive his streak of winning hands, shutting down the Indians on two runs and three hits in seven innings in a 4-2 win last night at Fenway Park.

"It's always in the back of your mind," Beckett said of doubts he might have entertained about how his finger would hold up. "That was one of the things I definitely worked on in the last three or four days, convincing myself that I'm fine, my finger's fine."

Beckett, with relief help from Brendan Donnelly, Javier Lopez, and Hideki Okajima, remained undefeated at 8-0, winning for the first time since May 8, thanks in considerable measure to Kevin Youkilis, for whom the hits just keep coming.

Youkilis extended his hitting streak to 21 games when he doubled home Julio Lugo (bunt single) in the first, then homered in the seventh. An impressive component of Youkilis's streak: He now has nine straight multihit games (19 for 40, .475). In the last 50 years, only one Sox player, Jim Rice, has had as many consecutive multiple-hit games. Rice had nine in 1978.

In the last 15 years, only two big leaguers have had longer streaks of multiple-hit games: Bernie Williams of the Yankees (2002) and Chuck Knoblauch of the Twins (1996) had 10 such games.

A confidence game?

"Anything in life is confidence," Youkilis said. "Ask anybody in any job they do, and confidence is the biggest thing that makes people succeed. The superstars in this game don't go up there and question themselves.

"I'm just going pitch to pitch. There are going to be some times I don't have good at-bats. Other times I'll have good at-bats and no results. There will be times that will not be a good at-bat, I'll swing at something, and get a hit. It's a crazy game. You've got to go day to day, pitch by pitch."

Jason Varitek also homered, and Mike Lowell doubled and came around to score on three straight walks, the last to Dustin Pedroia, as the Sox won their second straight over the Indians, who began this series as the highest-scoring team in the American League but have managed a total of five runs the last two nights.
They were held scoreless by Beckett until the seventh, when Jhonny Peralta singled and scored on a triple by Travis Hafner that took a weird bounce and careened around J.D. Drew in the right-field corner. Hafner scored on an infield out to halve Boston's lead to 4-2.

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Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Donnelly relieved Beckett and got two outs in the eighth. But he also hit Ryan Garko with a pitch and gave up a two-out pinch single to Casey Blake. Francona went to the lefthander Lopez, who induced Grady Sizemore, the Tribe's Sports Illustrated cover boy, to roll out to second.

Sizemore made a terrific running catch to take extra bases away from Wily Mo Peña in the second inning, but he is hitless in seven at-bats this series, with five strikeouts. Beckett struck him out all three times he faced him last night, and Curt Schilling got him twice the night before.

Asked to analyze the team's success in neutralizing Sizemore, Francona said, "I'd rather do it after tomorrow. He's a pretty good hitter. I'll feel a little more comfortable after tomorrow.

"But Javy keeps coming in games as a lefthanded specialist, and every time we need a third out or a ground ball in the middle of an inning, he's been getting it."

Before the game, Okajima came face to face with a Hall of Famer, Dennis Eckersley, who presented him his Rookie of the Month award for April. In the ninth inning, he stood in again for the Sox' All-Star closer, Jonathan Papelbon, and posted his fourth save in four chances.

After giving up runs in two of his previous three appearances, Okajima was dominating again, issuing a one-out walk to Travis Hafner before striking out Victor Martinez and Trot Nixon.

Whether he's setting up or closing, Okajima said, he takes the same approach.

"It doesn't matter if it's the eighth inning or ninth inning, I take it one out at a time," Okajima said through interpreter Jeff Yamaguchi. "Especially with the first batter. I don't want the first batter to get on base, and I don't want to give up a home run."

The runs he gave up? "At this point, I'm tired a little bit," he said. "I'm just a human being. I'm not a machine. I get hit.

"But I just try to minimize the damage. If the team wins, fine."

Youkilis golfed an 0-and-2 pitch from lefty Jeremy Sowers off the Monster for a run-scoring double in the first inning. Starting off his night with a hit is nothing new for Youkilis: According to statistician Chuck Waseleski, Youkilis is batting .513 (20 for 39) in the first inning, with three doubles and a home run.

Pedroia, meanwhile, was still shaking his head over the assertion by Youkilis that he is faster than the second baseman, a claim inflated by Youkilis's inside-the-park home run Monday night.

"He was stepping on his beard as he came around third base," Pedroia said. "We work out together, pulling sleds, and I dust him carrying a 225-pound sled with me.

"But I'll keep telling him he's faster than me if he's going to keep getting five hits a game. He's on fire."

Pedroia kept alive his more modest nine-game hitting streak with a single in the fifth.

As for Francona's claim about owning the cribbage board?

"He needs to come upstairs," Youkilis said, "and get out of his office."

Youk's Inside Park Homer & Shilling's 10 Strike Outs Spark Sox Victory

BOSTON -- If not for the Red Sox getting off to the second best start in club history after 50 games, Curt Schilling's recent slump would have been a far more prominent topic of conversation. Instead, Schilling was quietly able to tinker with his troubles over the last few days, and for one night, at least, he appeared to have it all figured out.
The big right-hander mowed right through a talented Indians' lineup and lifted the rolling Red Sox to a 5-3 victory Monday night at Fenway Park.

Jonathan Papelbon earned the save, navigating his way through an adventurous ninth inning. But Schilling gave another assist to pitching coach John Farrell.

"He's going to deny it until he's blue in the face, but this game was a direct result of John Farrell and the hard work and time and effort he's put in with not just me, but with the staff," said Schilling.

The 35-15 start by the Sox matches the 1986 American League pennant-winning edition for second best in the club's rich history. Only the 1946 Sox (41-9) of Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky bolted out to a better start. The Red Sox maintained their 11 1/2 game lead over the Orioles in the American League East. The Blue Jays are 12 games back and the Yankees, almost inconceivably, are now 13 1/2 games behind Boston.

Perhaps only a vintage performance from Schilling (seven innings, six hits, one run, no walks, 10 strikeouts) could trump the return of fan favorite Trot Nixon, who came back to Fenway for the first time since signing with the Indians.

But Schilling's revival and Nixon's 1-for-3 reunion had to make way for yet another storyline -- the red-hot bat of Kevin Youkilis. Not only did the first baseman extend his career-high hitting streak to 20 games, but he clubbed an inside-the-park homer in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The 410-foot liner clanged off the portion of the Boston bullpen that intersects with the triangle area in right-center and rolled for what seemed like miles. Youkilis roared around the bases and came home standing up. It was Boston's first inside-the-park homer since Nixon did the honors against the Yankees in July 2005.

"That was tough," said Youkilis. "That was like working out in the offseason. That's what you condition for -- sprints and long sprints. I saw the ball hit the wall and then I just took off."

The Sox held a 5-2 lead entering the ninth and usually that's a lock with Papelbon on the mound. But the hard-throwing closer got into immediate trouble, opening the inning with a walk to David Dellucci, a single to Ryan Garko and an RBI double off the bat of Josh Barfield.

But Papelbon then got a critical popup to third off the bat of dangerous leadoff man Grady Sizemore. And then came the controversy. Papelbon fired a 1-2 pitch to Casey Blake that appeared to either hit the batter or tip off his bat. Initially, Blake was issued first base. However, after the umpired conferred, it was ruled a strikeout. Even though Blake was hit by the pitch, he also swung.

"I don't know," said Papelbon. "It's tough, I only saw one replay of it. That's a tough call. Personally, I thought it hit the bat. But everyone was telling me it hit him on the hand. I guess by the rule he's out. I didn't necessarily see that, to be totally honest. That's the call they made and the call we went with and I had to clear that out of my mind and get the next guy. I'll take any out I can at that point."

Papelbon got no favors with the game hanging in the balance against dangerous slugger Travis Hafner. Nor did he need any. Papelbon went at Hafner with pure heat and ended the game by blowing a 97-mph fastball by him.

"I was off-line a little bit tonight," Papelbon said. "I wasn't as sharp as I would have liked to have been. I was sideways with my delivery a little bit and I wasn't throwing through [Jason] Varitek as well as I normally do. I just had to make the adjustment within the inning. It's baseball. We play 162 of these games. You aren't going to be perfect every time. I just had to make the adjustment."

In the grand scheme of things for the Red Sox, the most significant adjustment of the eventful night was made by Schilling. Mysteriously over his previous three starts, Schilling lost the power in his fastball and the bite in his splitter. Both returned in dramatic fashion, with Schilling recording double-digit strikeouts in a game for the first time this season.

"No walks, 10 strikeouts, he located his fastball with some finish on it and really threw, in my opinion, his best split of the year," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

While improving to 5-2 and lowering his ERA to 3.66, Schilling racked up career victory No. 212. In this one, Schilling looked nothing like the man who had gone 0-1 in his last three starts while giving up 29 hits and 11 earned runs over 17 1/3 innings.

He set the tone moments after the completion of the national anthem, striking out the side in the first.

"I was throwing," said Schilling. "I was getting after it a little bit. Some of the adjustments that we made have to do with that, physically and mentally with my fastball, in addition to my command and all the other stuff."

Individual ups and downs aside, things are good for the Red Sox right now. Make no mistake about that.

"We are a solid team," said Schilling. "We pitch from front to back. Offensively, it is never one or two or three guys. It is a combination of different people every night."

Craig Steltz Named to All-Spring Team

BATON ROUGE -- LSU strong safety Craig Steltz has been named to the Sporting News’ All-Spring Team, which was announced this week.

Steltz, a senior from New Orleans, capped his final spring with the Tigers by being named the recipient of the Alvin Roy Fourth Quarter Award as well as the Mike Miley Leadership Award. The Alvin Roy Award was for outstanding performance in LSU’s off-season program, while the Miley Award was given to the defensive player who displayed outstanding leadership skills during spring drills.

In LSU’s annual spring game, Steltz posted five tackles, including a tackle for a loss, in the Purple’s 20-14 win over the White team.

Steltz, who takes over as LSU’s starting strong safety this year, was joined on the All-Spring Team by wide receiver Early Doucet, who was an honorable mention selection.

Doucet capped a tremendous spring with a team-best nine receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown in spring game. Doucet, who ranked second on the squad a year ago with 59 catches for 772 yards and eight touchdowns, was given the Jimmy Taylor Award at the conclusion of spring practice. The Jimmy Taylor Award is given annually to the player who displays the best effort, leadership and performance during the spring.