Gamecocks Fall 8-5 To Ole Miss In Series Opener

Junior pitcher Will Kline struck out eight batters in seven innings of work

April 21, 2007

Courtesy of South Carolina Athletics

Oxford, Miss. - Junior pitcher Will Kline struck out eight batters in seven innings of work and Cody Overbeck went 3-for-4 with three RBI as 19th ranked Ole Miss defeated fourth ranked South Carolina 8-5 on Friday evening in game one of three-game SEC baseball series. The Rebels scored seven of eight runs with two outs and tallied nine of 11 hits in the game with two outs as well to earn the victory and improve to 26-14 and 9-7 in league play. Carolina's four-game winning streak was snapped with the loss and the Gamecocks are now 30-9 and also 9-7 in the SEC. Game two of the series is scheduled for 5 pm ET with the game to be televised on Sport South and available on the Gamecock Radio Network.

Will Kline improved to 5-1 with the win for the Rebels. He allowed five runs on five hits while walking only two batters. Reliever Cody Satterwhite finished off the game to earn his second save of the year. He went two innings and allowed no hits and just two walks while striking out two batters.

Junior right-handed pitcher Harris Honeycutt suffered his second straight loss and is now 7-2 on the year for Carolina. Honeycutt went six innings and allowed six runs, two earned, on seven hits while striking out five and walking two batters. Jeff Jeffords worked the final two innings and gave up two runs on four hits.

Ole Miss went ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning taking advantage of a pair of two-out hits off Honeycutt. Zack Cozart hit an infield single down the third base line, stole second base and scored on Cody Overbeck's RBI single to center field. Evan Button increased that lead to 2-0 in the second inning with another two-out hit, this one a solo homer, his second of the season.

The Rebels increased the lead to 3-0 in the third inning with an unearned run against the Gamecocks. Justin Henry hit a one-out single and stole second base. On the play, catcher Trent Kline's throw was high of second base allowing Henry to advance to third. After a walk to Cozart, put two runners on base, Cody Overbeck collected his second RBI hit of the evening with a single to left field to score Henry.

Carolina stormed back in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at three apiece. Will Kline had retired the first nine batters he faced until Harley Lail opened the frame with a double. Travis Jones would be hit by a pitch then to give the Gamecocks a pair of runners with no outs. Darnell would inch the Gamecocks closer as he launched a triple off the walk in left center to score both Lail and Jones. Darnell would then score the third run of the game for Carolina on Justin Smoak's RBI ground out.

Ole Miss came back for three runs though in the fourth inning taking advantage of two Gamecock errors to score three unearned runs. With two outs, Brett Basham got things started for the Rebels with a base hit followed up by another single from Jordan Henry. The Rebels first run came off an infield single by Justin Henry. On the play, second baseman Travis Jones threw wide of first base to allow Basham to score. Both Jordan and Justin Henry would then score on a fielding error by third baseman James Darnell on a ground ball from Zack Cozart. Cozart would be thrown out at second base on the play to end the inning.

South Carolina came back with a run in the sixth inning. Lail walked, Darnell singled and Lail would score on a RBI single from Justin Smoak. The base hit for Smoak also extended his hitting streak to 20 games. The Gamecocks loaded the bases only to see Will Kline get out of the jam as pinch hitter Robbie Grinestaff hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the frame.

The Rebels increased their lead back to three runs in the seventh inning as Overbeck drove in his third of the game. Jordan Henry got things started for Ole Miss with a triple to right center off reliever Jeff Jeffords. Jeffords stayed composed though as he got the next two batters out on a ground out and strikeout to keep Henry at bay at third base. Henry would score though as Overbeck hit an infield single in the six hole to give Ole Miss a 7-4 edge. Both teams traded runs in the eighth inning to complete the scoring.

The Gamecocks would bring the tying run up to the plate with one out in the ninth inning with two runners on base. Satterwhite was able to get out of the mix though by getting pinch hitter Drew Martin to fly out to left field and Harley Lail to ground out to first base to end the game and preserve the Ole Miss win.