Rebs stay alive

Published 10:01 pm Saturday, May 31, 2008

Michael Guerrero homered twice in one inning as Mississippi eliminated Bethune-Cookman 14-1 in the Coral Gables Regional on Saturday afternoon.

Guerrero’s home runs highlighted a 10-run sixth inning. The Rebels sent 14 batters to the plate against Wildcats starter Joseph Gautier and two relievers.

Mississippi took 6-1 lead when Guerrero sent Gautier’s 2-2 pitch over the left field fence for his ninth home run of the year. His second homer of the inning, a two-run shot, put Mississippi ahead 13-1.

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Gautier (6-3) failed to retire a batter in the sixth. He allowed six runs and six hits, walked two and struck out one.

Fuller Smith’s two-run single off Wildcats’ reliever Roman Lancara gave Mississippi an 8-1 lead and Logan Power followed with an RBI double. Smith scored from third on reliever Phil Enright’s wild pitch.

Power scored on Cody Overbeck’s RBI single and the Rebels took a 10-1 lead. Overbeck also hit a solo home run in the eighth.

The Wildcats (36-22) scored their only run in the second on Jose Ortiz’s RBI single.

Jake Morgan (5-0) got the victory in relief. Morgan inherited two runners and one out from Mississippi starter Drew Pomeranz in the fifth. He retired Osvaldo Torres and Emmanuel Castro to preserve the Rebels’ 3-1 lead.

Phillip Irwin struck out nine in four scoreless innings for his first save of the season.

Mississippi (38-25) on Sunday will play the loser of the Miami-Missouri game.

The Rebels picked up a 2-1 edge on Smith’s two-out RBI single in the third and never gave up the lead. After Gautier retired the first two hitters, Jordan Henry kept the inning going for Mississippi with a double.

Matt Smith doubled in a run in the fourth, which increased the Rebels’ lead 3-1. Henry’s run-scoring single in the first put Mississippi ahead 1-0.