No. 11 Ole Miss edges Georgia 2-1 in 10 innings

ATHENS, GA – Auston Bousfield delivered an RBI-single to lift 11th-ranked Ole Miss past Georgia 2-1 in 10 innings Sunday to clinch an SEC series at Swayze Field.

Georgia (25-25-1, 10-16-1 SEC) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first off Sam Smith. With one out, Conor Welton extended his hitting streak to five games with a single. He took third when Nelson Ward executed a hit and run with a base hit to right field. Sophomore Daniel Nichols made it 1-0 with a sacrifice fly for his 18th RBI on the year. In the fifth, the Rebels tied it on an unearned run off David Sosebee. Dalton Duhin reached on a leadoff strikeout passed ball and eventually scored on a two-out RBI-single from Bousfield. The Rebels went to the bullpen to start the eighth in left-hander Jeremy Massie. Smith allowed one run on seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

In the eighth, the Rebels (37-15, 17-10 SEC) got back-to-back singles from Errol Robinson and Braxton Lee. Bousfield bounced one to deep shortstop that Nelson Ward fielded and threw to third to force out Robinson. At that point, Sosebee, who provided a career-high 7.1 innings, was lifted in favor of right-hander Jared Cheek. He came in and got Austin Anderson to bounce into an inning-ending double play to send it to the ninth all tied at 1-1. Sosebee did not walk a batter and struck out three, allowing just one unearned run and got a no decision. In the ninth following a one-out walk, the first allowed by either club, the Bulldogs turned their second straight inning-ending double play to force extra innings.

“Today was a really good baseball game, and we just came up on the short end,” said Georgia coach Scott Stricklin. “David Sosebee was outstanding for us. Ole Miss is a little more experienced, and playing at home, they came up with the big hit in extra innings. We turned some big double plays, we made most of the plays and kept their bats silent for much of the past two days and that’s a credit to our pitching staff. It’s tough, but looking back after the way Friday’s game went (12-2 loss), it’s good to get one win, and if we play like we did the past two days and score some more runs, we’re going to be all right.”

Cheek got the loss to fall to 5-5 while Massie improved to 4-2 after pitching three scoreless innings for the win. In the series, Georgia did not have its leading hitter in junior Hunter Cole (.326-2-26) due to a rib irritation. He is listed as day-to-day.

Georgia is back in action Tuesday at Turner Field for the 12th annual Spring Baseball Classic for Kids that benefits Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. It will be the rubber game of the series with Georgia Tech as each team has won on their campus this year. Georgia holds an 8-3 all-time edge in the series at the home of the Atlanta Braves. First pitch will be at 7:07 p.m., and it will be televised by FoxSportsNet.

Then, the Bulldogs close out the regular season with the final SEC series starting Thursday at Foley Field against Kentucky. Georgia is aiming to make the 12-team SEC Tournament field, and currently the Bulldogs are in 12th place.