HOOVER, Ala. — Fifth-seeded Ole Miss scored eight runs through the first three innings in Game 8 of the SEC Tournament on Thursday night to cruise past eighth-seeded LSU, 12-1, in a game stopped in the seventh inning due to the 10-run rule at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The Tigers (35-23) fell to 0-4 against the Rebels on the year and lost via a 10-run rule for the first time in their SEC Tournament history.
Ole Miss (38-20) has won seven out of its last eight games and defeated LSU for the first time in its tournament history. The Rebels were previously 0-3 all-time against the Tigers, dating back to the first meeting between the two in the 1993 Western Division Tournament in Baton Rouge.
LSU faces a rematch with Alabama on Friday in a 6:30 p.m. elimination game televised by Fox Sports Net (Cable Ch. 38 in Baton Rouge). The winner advances to play Ole Miss at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and must defeat the Rebels twice to reach Sunday’s championship game.
Senior right-hander Chris Cahill (1-0, 1.35), who has fired 10.2 consecutive scoreless innings, is scheduled to make the start against the Crimson Tide’s Tommy Hunter.
Ole Miss freshman southpaw Brett Bukvich (6-5) limited the Tigers to its lowest hit output of the season on Thursday night, allowing four hits and one run in a seven-inning complete-game effort.
The Rebels have amassed 44 runs on 55 hits against the Tigers in four games this season, and Ole Miss was once again led by right fielder Mark Wright who went 3-for-4 with five RBI.
“We have got to find some pitching here,” said LSU coach Smoke Laval. “Somebody has got to get us in a weekend series when we go deep into a ballgame, but it is no surprise. That has happened time and time again. We have got to find it.”
Freshman right-hander Louis Coleman (5-6) suffered his second loss of the year to the Rebels, allowing seven runs (six earned) on five hits while walking four with no strikeouts in two innings of work.
Coleman, a native of Schlater, Miss., was making the first start by an LSU freshman in the SEC Tournament since Justin Meier took the mound against Alabama in the 2003 championship game.
Ole Miss jumped out in front with three runs in the first inning against Coleman. Second baseman Justin Henry walked, third baseman Chris Coghlan singled, and the Rebels capitalized on a throwing error by third baseman Will Harris to bring in the game’s first run.
Harris fielded a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Zack Cozart and fired wildly down the first base line, allowing Henry to score. First baseman C.J. Ketchum provided an RBI groundout, and left fielder Logan Power completed the uprising with a sharp RBI single to left.
Coghlan made it a 4-0 contest in the second when he crushed a solo homer over the right-field wall.
The Rebels put the game away in the third with a four-run frame that ended Coleman’s outing and forced junior reliever Edgar Ramirez into action.
Ketchum doubled to leadoff the inning, Power singled, and catcher Justin Brashear walked to load the bases. Ramirez inherited the jam and issued a pair of two-run singles to right fielder Mark Wright and Henry.
Ole Miss pushed the advantage to 10-0 with two more runs in the fourth when centerfielder Alex Presley scored on a wild pitch, and Wright drove in his third run with another single.
Stewart accounted for the Tigers’ only run when he launched his 23rd homer of the year — a towering, solo shot — that ended Bukvich’s shutout bid.
However, the Rebels rebounded when Wright drove in his fourth and fifth runs with a double over centerfielder Jarred Bogany‘s in the sixth.
Ole Miss 12, LSU 1 (May 25, 2006 at Hoover, Ala.)
———————————————————————-
LSU………………. 000 001 0 – 1 4 1 (35-23)
Ole Miss………… 314 202 X – 12 10 2 (38-20)
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Pitchers: LSU – Coleman; Ramirez(3); Wilhite(4); Goodwin(6). Ole Miss – B. Bukvich.
Win-B. Bukvich(6-5) Loss-Coleman(5-6) T-2:15 A-7205
HR LSU – Stewart (23).
HR UM – C. Coghlan (3).
Coleman faced 3 batters in the 3rd.
2006 SEC Tournament
May 24-28, 2006
Hoover, Ala.
Wednesday, May 24
Game 1: (7) South Carolina def. (2) Kentucky, 4-2
Game 2: (6) Vanderbilt def. (3) Georgia, 9-4
Game 3: (8) LSU def. (1) Alabama, 4-3
Game 4: (5) Ole Miss def. (4) Arkansas, 9-4
Thursday, May 25
Game 5: (3) Georgia def. (2) Kentucky, 16-10
(2) Kentucky eliminated
Game 6: (1) Alabama def. (4) Arkansas, 4-3
Arkansas eliminated
Game 7: (6) Vanderbilt def. (7) South Carolina, 11-1 (7)
Game 8: (5) Ole Miss def. (8) LSU, 12-1 (7)
Friday, May 26
Game 9: (3) Georgia vs. (7) South Carolina, 3 p.m.
Game 10: (1) Alabama vs. (8) LSU, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 27
Game 11: (6) Vanderbilt vs. Game 9 Winner, 10 a.m.
Game 12: (5) Ole Miss vs. Game 10 Winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 13*: Game 11 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser, 5 p.m.
Game 14*: Game 12 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 28
Game 15: Game 11/13 Winner vs. Game 12/14 Winner, 3 p.m.
Game 13 will be necessary if the winner of Game 9 also wins game 11.
Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12. If Game 13 is not necessary, Game 14 would start at 5 p.m.
If both bracket winners are undefeated, there will be no 5 or 8:30 p.m. games on Saturday and the championship game will be the 13th game, which will be played on Sunday.