University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Fast Start Helps Ole Miss Overcome Sloppy Play Against Prairie View
2/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
LAFAYETTE – Ole Miss jumped out to an 8-1 lead after three innings and overcame sloppy play in the field to hold off a late Prairie View A&M charge in posting a 9-6 victory here Saturday in game seven of the 2nd Annual Louisiana's Mardi Gras Classic.
Ole Miss put up four runs in the second and third innings after a slow start in the bottom of the first. Prairie View took advantage of three Rebel errors over the fifth and sixth innings combined to scratch for five runs to make the score look somewhat respectable.
Ole Miss got production form nearly every spot in the batting order. Seven players had at least one RBI led by a team-high two from DeDe Justice.
Prairie View came alive late in the game for its most hits so far during the tournament. The Panthers (0-3) picked up 12 hits with Kimberly Fernandez's 4-for-4 outing leading the charge.
Tara Willitt worked 5 2/3 innings scattering 11 hits and allowing just two earned runs to pick up her first win of the season. Dana Brill relieved Willitt in the PV sixth inning and picked up the save.
PV starter Janelle Meyers started off strong, holding Ole Miss hitless in the first inning and stranding two runners. The Rebels got to her in the second and third innings roughing her up for eight runs (five earned) and six hits.
The Panthers struck first in the top half of the initial frame. Amberly Fuller lifted a two-out home run over the left center field wall to put PV up 1-0.
Ole Miss stranded two baserunners in the bottom half of the first inning as Meyers worked her way around two walks
The Rebels used small ball to push across the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the second. With runners on second and third and two outs after a sacrifice bunt from Kayla Mosley moved the runners over. Brooke Turner laid down a bunt and Vanessa Gibbs slid underneath the tag to tie the game 1-1. That was followed by a Brittany Warner infield single that plated Jordan Chitwood with the go-ahead run and gave Ole Miss a 2-1 lead.
Justice helped the Rebels break the game open even further when she followed the Warner single with a double into the right center field gap that scored two more runs giving the Rebels a 4-1 lead.
Lauren Rowe continued the Ole Miss attack in the team's next at bat. Rowe started the bottom of the third inning with a solo home run – her first career bomb – that put Ole Miss up 5-1. After Chloe Kloezeman reached on a throwing error by PV third baseman Laura Quezada, Gibbs tripled down the right field line to score Kloezeman.
Gibbs later scored on a throwing error by Meyers two batters later when Meyers fielded a ground ball and had an easy shot to nail Gibbs at the plate, but the throw sailed high and into the backstop. An RBI single by pinch hitter Erin Faircloth completed the Rebels second straight four-spot and produced an 8-1 advantage.
The Panthers took advantage of sloppy play by Ole Miss in the latter innings to scored five runs and cut the lead to 9-6 – getting three unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Brill came in and closed the door on the surging Panthers.
Ole Miss improves to 2-1 in play at the Mardi Gras Classic and will be back in action at 6 p.m. against No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette in the Rebels final game of the day.
Prairie View falls to 0-3 on the season and in the tournament. The Panthers will finish play Saturday in a 1:30 p.m. contest with No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette.
LINE SCORE
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Ole Miss 9, Prairie View A&M 6
(Feb 05, 2005 at Lafayette, La.)
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Prairie View A&M.... 100 023 0 - 6 12 4 (0-3)
Ole Miss............ 044 010 X - 9 10 7 (2-1)
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Pitchers: Prairie View A&M - Meyers; Kemp(4). Ole Miss -
Willitt; Brill(6).
Win-Willitt(1-0) Save-Brill(1) Loss-Meyers(0-2) T-2:29 A-0
HR PVAM - Fuller. HR OM - Rowe.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
