2008 Woodie Awards
Grand slam leads Rebels past Lady'Backs
Cory Crawford
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Sports
A sixth-inning grand slam by Lisa Conchos propelled the Ole Miss Rebels past the Arkansas Lady'Backs 6-1 in the rubber game of the series Sunday at Lady'Back Yard.
Ole Miss (22-26, 6-19 Southeastern Conference) opened with a 2-0 lead in the second inning off two hits and two Lady'Back errors.
Arkansas (33-22, 6-16) responded in the fifth with one run on a Brittany Robison RBI single. After two hits and a walk in the sixth, Conchos ripped a home run to left.
Katy Henry was the losing pitcher, going five innings and giving up six earned runs.
Becky Nye was the winning pitcher after on a complete game three-hitter.
The starting pitching wasn't exactly what Arkansas coach Jamie Pinkerton was expecting Saturday either.
Neither Henry nor Miranda Dixon made it out of the third inning in their starts of the doubleheader, but the Lady'Backs managed to sneak out with a 3-2 win in the first game before dropping the second 8-0.
"It was just one of those days," Pinkerton said. "It doesn't happen very often where both pitchers don't have good stuff and it happened today at the right time."
Lauren Grill led off the first game with a home run to give Ole Miss a 1-0 advantage.
Dixon answered with an RBI single to drive in Jessica Bachkora in the bottom of the first.
Henry was batted out of the game in the third inning and Kim Jones entered the game and shut the door on the Ole Miss offense.
Dixon gave the Lady'Backs a 3-2 lead when she hit a two-run home run in the third.
Jones pitched 4.2 innings and allowed just three hits and no runs.
Tara Willitt gave up three runs in 4.2 innings in the loss.
"She did what we needed her to do," Pinkerton said. "She saved our necks today."
Dixon struggled to get anything going on the mound in the second game. After allowing one run in the first inning, she found herself in a hole in the second inning following a questionable call at second that was ruled an error.
That error combined with five hits and led to six Rebel runs in the inning, five of which were unearned.
Michelle May hit a solo home run in the third to give the Rebels the 8-0 lead.
Arkansas' offense couldn't string together hits in the second game. The Lady'Backs managed just three hits, all singles.
"I didn't think we had a good plate approach in the second game," Pinkerton said.
Nye earned the win for Ole Miss with five innings of work.
Dixon got the loss, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing six runs, two earned on six hits.
Arkansas also dropped two games to No. 1 Alabama this week.
The Crimson Tide pitching shut down Arkansas in two shutouts Thursday. The Lady'Backs tallied just four hits in the doubleheader.
Arkansas travels to LSU for a three-game set starting Saturday.
Ole Miss (22-26, 6-19 Southeastern Conference) opened with a 2-0 lead in the second inning off two hits and two Lady'Back errors.
Arkansas (33-22, 6-16) responded in the fifth with one run on a Brittany Robison RBI single. After two hits and a walk in the sixth, Conchos ripped a home run to left.
Katy Henry was the losing pitcher, going five innings and giving up six earned runs.
Becky Nye was the winning pitcher after on a complete game three-hitter.
The starting pitching wasn't exactly what Arkansas coach Jamie Pinkerton was expecting Saturday either.
Neither Henry nor Miranda Dixon made it out of the third inning in their starts of the doubleheader, but the Lady'Backs managed to sneak out with a 3-2 win in the first game before dropping the second 8-0.
"It was just one of those days," Pinkerton said. "It doesn't happen very often where both pitchers don't have good stuff and it happened today at the right time."
Lauren Grill led off the first game with a home run to give Ole Miss a 1-0 advantage.
Dixon answered with an RBI single to drive in Jessica Bachkora in the bottom of the first.
Henry was batted out of the game in the third inning and Kim Jones entered the game and shut the door on the Ole Miss offense.
Dixon gave the Lady'Backs a 3-2 lead when she hit a two-run home run in the third.
Jones pitched 4.2 innings and allowed just three hits and no runs.
Tara Willitt gave up three runs in 4.2 innings in the loss.
"She did what we needed her to do," Pinkerton said. "She saved our necks today."
Dixon struggled to get anything going on the mound in the second game. After allowing one run in the first inning, she found herself in a hole in the second inning following a questionable call at second that was ruled an error.
That error combined with five hits and led to six Rebel runs in the inning, five of which were unearned.
Michelle May hit a solo home run in the third to give the Rebels the 8-0 lead.
Arkansas' offense couldn't string together hits in the second game. The Lady'Backs managed just three hits, all singles.
"I didn't think we had a good plate approach in the second game," Pinkerton said.
Nye earned the win for Ole Miss with five innings of work.
Dixon got the loss, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing six runs, two earned on six hits.
Arkansas also dropped two games to No. 1 Alabama this week.
The Crimson Tide pitching shut down Arkansas in two shutouts Thursday. The Lady'Backs tallied just four hits in the doubleheader.
Arkansas travels to LSU for a three-game set starting Saturday.
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