University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Ole Miss
Vols Drop Series Finale, 9-2
April 28, 2002 | Baseball
April 28, 2002
Oxford, Miss. -- Josh Christian hit his sixth home run as the No. 6 Mississippi Rebels salvaged the final game of the series with a 9-2 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers at Swayze Field.
Christian, Seth Smith and Chad Sterberns each drove in two runs apiece to lead the Rebels who improved to 34-11 and 13-8 in the SEC. Tennessee fell to 23-23 and 8-13 in the league as Matt Sternberg extended his hitting streak to nine games with a sixth-inning single.
Alan Horne (4-1), who won his third straight start, held the Volunteers to two runs (one earned) on four hits in a six innings while posting a season-high five strikeouts against three walks. Adam Yates tossed two shutout innings and T.J. Beam worked a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
Rob Fitzgerald (0-2) failed to make it out of the fourth inning in his second straight conference start as he gave up five runs (two earned) on five hits in taking the loss.
Dusty Johnson last just four batters before being replaced by Joey Andrews who logged the final four innings, allowing two runs on five hits.
The Rebels struck first on Christian's blast in the first for a 2-0 lead. Hal Bibee then drove home Jordan Czarniecki after he walked, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 2-1 in the third.
A two-out error opened the doors for the Rebels as they tacked on three unearned runs in the fourth in taking a 5-1 lead. The Rebels had runners at the corners when Sterberns hit a one-hopper to third that Sternberg misplayed allowing Jonathan Swearingen to score. Charlie Waite, who walked, advanced to third, while Sterbens took second. Smith then slapped a single to left plating the two.
After Nick Crowe, who led the Vols with two hits, scored on a ground out in the fifth to cut the lead to 5-2, Mississippi broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the frame, keyed by Sterberns' two-run single. A Matt Tolbert RBI single and a sacrifice fly earlier in the inning helped build the lead to 9-2.
Tennessee will play an exhibition game against the Tennessee Smokies, Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, Wednesday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. ET, at Smokies Park in Sevierville, Tenn.
