May 5, 2002
Columbia, SC – Freshman right-hander Alan Horne allowed two hits in 7 1/3 innings Sunday and ninth ranked Mississippi scored four times on three sixth inning home runs to down fourth ranked South Carolina 4-2 and salvage the final game of a Southeastern Conference baseball series.
South Carolina won the first two games to temporarily take over first place in the overall SECh standings but dropped to half a game behind Western Division leader Alabama which defeated Georgia 4-2 Sunday to salvage one game in that series. In the Eastern Division race, South Carolina leads Florida by half a game and Georgia by 1.5.
Mississippi improved its record to 35-13, 14-10 in the SEC. South Carolina dropped to 37-11, 16-7 and ended a six game win streak.
Horne, the first round selection of the Cleveland Indians in the June 2001 baseball draft, allowed only one hit, a home run by Trey Dyson, through seven innings. After a walk and a bloop single by Brian Buscher with one out in the eighth, Horne was relieved by Adam Yates who gave up an RBI single to Dyson before retiring the Gamecocks.
T. J. Beam, the victim of South Carolina’s four run ninth inning rally Saturday night, pitched the ninth inning Sunday and allowed one hit to earn his sixth save of the season. Horne improved his freshman year record to 5-1. Steven Bondurant, 5-3, was charged with the loss.
Bondurant allowed one hit over the first five innings and had a 1-0 lead on Dyson’s 14th homer in the second inning. In the sixth, Matt Mossberg singled and Chad Sterbens homered, his fourth, to give Mississippi its first lead at 2-1.Jonathan Swearingen popped up for the first out but Burney Hutchinson and Josh Christian hit back to back home runs to increase the Mississippi lead to 4-1and drive Bondurant from the game. The homers were the eighth for Hutchinson and seventh for Christian.
Blake Taylor pitched the final 3 2/3 innings for South Carolina. He allowed two hits and walked two, but no runs. He struck out five. Mississippi totaled seven hits, two by Mossberg, one of which was a double. Dyson had two of South Carolina’s four hits.
MISSISSIPPI 000 004 000 – 4-7-2
SOUTH CAROLINA 010 000 010 – 2-4-0
Horne, Yates (8), Beam (9) and Gunther. Bondurant, Taylor (6) and Powell. W-Horne (5-1). L-Bondurant (5-3). Save-Beam (6). 2B-UM, Mossberg. HR-UM, Sterbens (4), Hutchinson (8), Christian (7); USC, Dyson (14).
