Virginia rallies to even series

OXFORD, Miss. -- In mirrorlike fashion, Ole Miss returned the favor.

With Mississippi all but headed for a series-clinching victory, a costly error in the eighth inning opened the door for Virginia to claim a 4-3 come-from-behind victory in the Oxford Super Regional yesterday.

The win, which included ninth-inning heroics on the mound, kept Virginia's season alive and evened the best-of-three event. The Cavaliers (47-13-1) need one win to make their first trip to the College World Series.

"It was another great college baseball game," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "I couldn't be more proud of our club. We hung in there all day long, continued to fight and didn't quit."

With the Cavaliers trailing 3-2 with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Virginia freshman Danny Hultzen hit a routine grounder to Ole Miss second baseman Evan Button.

But it was anything but ordinary. Button picked up the ball and flipped it into the dirt before it skipped past first baseman Matt Smith.

"It was a hard-hit ball that 99 times out of a 100 I make," said Button of his ninth error of the season. "I wish I could have it back."

After Steven Proscia was walked by reliever David Goforth, Virginia catcher Franco Valdes turned on a fastball and drilled a run-scoring single into the outfield.

With runners on the corners, sophomore John Barr grounded into a fielder's choice that provided the game-winning run after he broke up a double play by beating the relay to first.

Barr, who drove in Virginia's second run in the fourth inning with a double, said it was great to hear the record crowd of 10,323 at Swayze quickly go quiet.

"It was just great because we took the lead," he said. "I was pretty fired up. As soon as I hit it I said, 'Get on your horse,' because I was not getting doubled up by these guys."

Playing as the home team, Virginia entered the ninth inning three outs away from its fifth one-run win of the season.

That appeared doomed after reliever Andrew Carraway allowed a leadoff double to Zach Miller that bounced off third base and trickled into foul territory.

After Miller advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, O'Connor summoned left-hander Matt Packer from the bullpen.

"You all thought I might have been a little bit nuts bring a left-handed pitcher in to face a right-handed hitter," the sixth-year skipper said. "Sometimes you have to do things that are out of the box a little bit to win."

Packer, who pitched in Virginia's 4-3 loss Friday, responded. The southpaw got Ole Miss shortstop Kevin Mort to hit a fly to shallow left-center field that was tracked down by left fielder Shane Halley, a defensive replacement for Barr.

"Halley has probably our best throwing arm in the outfield, and when you are trying to protect a one-run lead, defense is very, very important," O'Connor said.

With two outs, Packer threw consecutive balls to pinch-hitter Drew Ferguson. O'Connor then elected to intentionally walk Ferguson and pitch to leadoff hitter Jordan Henry.

"Believe me, I was running it over in my mind very, very quickly," O'Connor said. "I broke the cardinal rule of baseball and that's to walk the winning run and put him on base.

"I just felt that could be the ballgame, and I liked our matchup with Matt against Henry. Fortunately, it worked."

Packer induced a softly hit grounder to second baseman Keith Werman, a defensive replacement who had booted a ball in the ninth inning to allow the Rebels to rally Friday for a victory that eventually came in the 12th inning.

Ole Miss today is slated to start LHP Nathan Baker (4-2, 3.63 ERA). The junior has not started a contest since April 28 but has 63 strikeouts in 62 innings.

It was not known after the game, however, who would pitch for the Cavaliers. O'Connor had to use Carraway for three innings in relief of starter Robert Morey.

Another pitcher who may be unavailable today was Ole Miss starter Drew Pomeranz. The sophomore dazzled through seven innings yesterday against the Cavaliers, striking out 10 as he threw 146 pitches.

With the victory, Virginia matched the best win total in program history. The Cavaliers won 47 games in 2006.

Mississippi ------------------------- 200 001 000 000 -- 3 6 2
Virginia ------------------------- 001 100 02x 001 -- 4 8 2

Pomeranz (7) and Goforth; Morey (6), Carraway (8), Packer (9) and Valdes. W: Carraway 8-1. L: Goforth 1-1. S: Packer (3). HR: Mississippi, Power (7)