Late Tiger Rally Falls Short at No. 9 Ole Miss

Tuesday, February 20

Oxford, Miss.

4 p.m.

University of Memphis

2-2

Ole Miss

4-0

Memphis

Ole Miss

Feb 20, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score

Early runs costly in loss to No. 9 Rebels

OXFORD, Miss. – Memphis scored four runs over the final five innings, but came up just short in a 8-6 loss to No. 9 Ole Miss Tuesday at Swayze Field. The Tigers (2-2) gave up eight runs over the first four innings before rallying back in the second half of the game.

Kyle O'Keefe had a big game at the plate, going 2-for-5 and hitting his first career home run. He finished with two RBI and one run scored. Nick Vaage had a 2-for-4 day with two doubles and two runs scored.

Alec Trela went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for his best day at the plate so far this season. Josh Rooker came off the bench and record his first two career hits, including an RBI single in the ninth.

Ole Miss scored in bunches early, starting with a two-run home run by catcher Nick Fortes in the first inning. Fortes was back at it in the third inning with another home run to extend the lead to 6-0.

Memphis had a few opportunities to get on the board early in the game but could not scratch out a run. Vaage started the top of the second with a double but was stranded at third and Colton Neel doubled with one out in the third but was left on base.

The Tigers were able to get two runs back on the first career home run by O'Keefe in the top of the fourth inning. The two-run blast cut the Ole Miss lead to 6-2.

Ole Miss got the runs back quickly though in the bottom half to extend the lead out to 8-2.

The Tigers tacked on one more in the fifth after Trela doubled and scored on an RBI single by Tyler Webb to make the score 8-3.

Memphis plated another run in the eighth to trim the lead to 8-4. Vaage doubled for the second time in the game and scored on an infield single by O'Keefe.

In the ninth inning, Memphis scored two more runs before the Rebels' closer managed to get a strikeout to end the game.

Danny Denz made his first start of the season and allowed four earned runs in two innings. Connor Alexander allowed three runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched out of the bullpen.

Memphis then used a combination of four relievers to finish out the game and keep Ole Miss off the board. James Muse allowed just one hit in 1 1/3 innings pitched. Alex Smith pitched a scoreless frame and Hunter Smith followed him with another scoreless inning. Blake Bennett pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning to finish it off.

The Tiger are back at FedExPark this weekend to host Eastern Illinois, Feb. 23-25.