OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss again thwarted a ULM upset as they scored one run in the eighth and ninth inning to claim a 4-3 win Wednesday at Swayze Field.
Carey Taylor (0-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs on five hits in 4.1 innings of relief. Cheyne Bickel tossed 2.1 innings of shutout baseball to improve to 1-1.
Ole Miss, like it did on Tuesday, scored the first run of the contest. Braxton Lee led off the inning by drawing a walk and moved 90 feet from home as he stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by Warhawk catcher Chet Simoneaux. Lee was able to cross home plate on a RBI groundout by Auston Bousfield.
The Rebels pushed their lead to 2-0 with a single run in the home half of the fourth. With one out in the frame, Colby Bortles singled to third and later moved to second on a passed ball. After a walk by Brantley Bell, Braxton Lee doubled to the gap in left center allowing Bortles to score the second Ole Miss run.
ULM finally broke through with its first hit of the game as Chet Simoneaux led off the top of the seventh with a single to center off of reliever Evan Anderson. Dalton Herrington followed and reached base via a walk to give ULM two on with no outs. Justin Stawychny laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached on a throwing error by third baseman Brantley Bell. Bell's throwing error allowed Stawychny to move to second, Herrington advanced to third and Simoneaux scored.
The Warhawks were able to even the game at 2-2 as Herrington raced home on a wild pitch by Anderson. Later in the inning, with Stawychny standing at third and two outs, Vincent Dellocono recorded his first career hit, a RBI double down the left field line. Dellocono's RBI double allowed Stawychny to score and give the Warhawks a 3-2 lead.
Ole Miss tied the game with one run in the bottom of the eighth inning. With runners at second and third and one away, Bortles grounded out to short stop but picked up a RBI as Cameron Dishon scored to even the game at 3-3.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Rebels led off with a hit by Bell and he was able to move to third on a passed ball and sac bunt. After the Warhawks intentionally loaded the bases and Tyler Bray entered the game on the hill, Will Allen drove in the game-winning run to lift Ole Miss to the win.
The Warhawks will return to action this weekend as they welcome Southeastern Louisiana for a three-game series beginning Friday night at 6 p.m. Game two on Saturday will start at 6 p.m. and Sunday's finale will start at 1 p.m.
For updates throughout the season on the ULM baseball team, be sure to follow the squad on twitter @ULM_BSB.
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