And this year's Ole Miss team was quite good. They went 40-19 in the regular season, and reached the final of the SEC Tournament. Last weekend, they were the number 1 seed at home, and they were hosting the following teams:
Georgia Tech (40-17), the number 2 seed.
W. Kentucky (46-12), the number 3 seed and champion of Conference USA.
Murray St. (39-13), the number 4 seed and champion of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Together, these four teams played a double elimination tournament for the ages.
Game One: The tournament opened on Friday afternoon with a pretty easy win for Georgia Tech, who beat W. Kentucky 9 to 2. No drama so far.
Game Two: On Friday night, in front of a packed stadium, Murray State jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with two runs in the top of the 1st and two more in the top of the 2d. But Ole Miss fought back with three runs in the 3d and two more in the 4th to take a 5-4 lead. Just as the Ole Miss fans started to think they had the situation under control, Murray added one run in the 5th and another in the 6th to take a 6-5 lead. But then Ole Miss responded with another run in the bottom of the 7th to tie things at 6. However, Murray still wasn't finished. The Racers took the lead in the top of the 8th with a two-out single, and added two more in the 9th with a two-out, bases loaded double from right fielder Dustin Mercer. (Mercer was 4-5 with four doubles in this game). Down 9-6 going into the bottom of the 9th, Ole Miss tried to rally. A single and a double put Rebels on second and third with one out. The next batter struck out, but the next was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the crowd going nuts, the next Rebel batter popped up, and Murray had a stirring 9-6 win.
Game Three: On Saturday afternoon, Ole Miss took out its frustration on Western. The Rebels led 8-3 after 6 1/2 innings, and held on for an 8-6 win. That eliminated the Hilltoppers.
Game Four: On Saturday night, with the Ole Miss fans mostly at home, Murray and Georgia Tech played another game for the ages. Tech opened with three runs in the top of the first, but Murray responded with five runs in the bottom of the first. The Racers then tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the fourth, and suddenly they led 10-3. Amazingly, however, Tech then responded with SEVEN runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 10. At this point, I assumed Murray was out of pitching. But I was wrong. Neither team scored in the sixth, but Murray took a 12-10 lead in the bottom of the 7th. Tech responded with a run in the top of the 8th to make the score 12-11, but a Racer home run made the score 13-11 going into the 9th. The Racers retired the first two Yellowjackets in the 9th, but Tech then got a walk and a double to leave the tying runners on second and third with two out. However, Murray State struck out the last Tech batter to wrap up a stirring 13-11 victory and put themselves in the regional final.
Game Five: On Sunday afternoon, Tech and Ole Miss met in an elimination game. Amazingly, Tech again opened with three runs in the top of the first -- and again yielded five runs in the bottom of the first. Tech rebounded, however, and led 8-6 after four. From this point on, however, the Ole Miss pitching staff rallied, and Tech could get only one more run. Meanwhile, the Rebels got two in the 5th, one in the 6th, one in the 7th, and one in the 8th for an 11-9 win that finally eliminated the Yellow Jackets.
Game Six: So now Ole Miss had to beat Murray twice in two days to win the region, while the Racers only had to win once. The Rebels got off to a good start on Sunday night. They were up 15-6 after four innings, and they romped home with a 19-8 win. In three games, Murray State's pitchers had allowed 36 runs. But if the Racers could win Monday night's winner-take all final, they could still survive.
Game Seven: And so, on Monday night, the Rebels and the Racers met for the third time in four days. I don't think anyone who was there will forget it. Murray led 5-0 after 2 1/2 innings, but the Rebels responded with one run in the bottom of the 3d and two more in the bottom of the fourth. Leading 5-3 after 4, Murray exploded -- the Racers put up four runs in the 5th, one more in the 6th, and two more in the 7th. Amazingly, the Racers now led 12-3 -- and they only needed nine outs to win the region. Unfortunately, they were almost out of pitching. Ole Miss scored five runs in the bottom of the 7th to make the score 12-8. And the Rebels whacked a three-run homer in the 8th to make the score 12-11. Ole Miss wasn't done. The next two batters singled, and the Rebels suddenly had the lead run on base. But somehow, Graham Kelham -- the same pitcher who had already given up six hits (including a three-run homer) -- struck out the next two Rebels to end the inning. Murray couldn't do anything in the 9th, and Kelham had to defend that one-run lead in the bottom of the 9th. He struck out the first two batters -- that's four strikeouts in a row. And finally, the last batter flew out to center, and Murray had one of the greatest wins in its history: 12 to 11, and Regional Champs.
Murray State has had many great basketball team, but the Racers has never reached the round of 16 in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. This year's baseball team, however, is one of the last 16 still playing. The Racers are on their way to Durham, North Carolina, to face the Duke Blue Devils. The Dukies pulled an upset of their own, beating Georgia on the Bulldogs' home field, and the Devils will be tough to beat at home. But if Murray State can win two of three in Durham, they will go to Omaha for the College World Series. How about that?
The Regionals were full of drama, and we can't do justice to them. But here you can see the Super Regional matchups -- home teams listed first. Each series is best two out of three. The figures in parentheses represent the national seeds who are left:
BRACKET ONE:
Louisville v. Miami (Fla.)
(8) Oregon St. v. (9) Florida St.
(5) N. Carolina v. Arizona
(4) Auburn v. (13) Coastal Carolina
BRACKET TWO:
(15) U.C.L.A. v. Tex-San Antonio
Duke v. Murray St.
(6) Louisiana St. v. W. Virginia
(3) Arkansas v. (14) Tennessee
I do believe that Murray State's win here is probably the most unlikely of any win I've rooted for (after WKU was eliminated) in any sport, at least of The HP Era, and I'm glad you documented it for us. Go, Racers!
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