Here is your recap from the first day of action at the Oxford Regional.
Ole Miss 8 Monmouth 1
OXFORD, Miss. — Sophomore Drew Pomeranz pitched eight scoreless innings before leaving the game with a man on the ninth as he helped pitch No. 9 Ole Miss (41-17) to an 8-1 win over Monmouth (32-24) in the opening round of NCAA Regional play at Oxford-University Stadium.
With the win, the Rebels advance to play third-seeded Western Kentucky at 5 p.m. on Saturday after the Hilltoppers defeated Missouri in the first game of the day.
Pomeranz (7-4) picked up the win for the Rebels as he worked 8.0 innings and allowed one run on five hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.
Western Kentucky 11 Missouri 5
OXFORD, Miss. – Third-seeded Western Kentucky University (40-18) turned in a six-run first and left no doubt in rolling past second-seeded Missouri (34-26) 11-5 in the opening game of the 2009 NCAA Oxford Regional at Oxford-University Field on the campus of Ole Miss. In reaching the 40-win plateau for the first time in 21 years, the Hilltoppers advance in the winners bracket to face either #8 Mississippi or Monmonth on Saturday evening at 5:00 PM CT.
Missouri, with a 16-11 record in the Big 12 this season, opted to hold back staff ace Kyle Gibson and trotted out Nick Tepesch to face the best-hitting team in the field. Gibson was 10-3 in the regular season with a 3.47 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 98.2 innings. The Toppers, however, knocked Tepesch (6-5) out after just 1.0 inning of work as the sophomore righthander surrendered six runs, five earned, on three hits and three walks.
Wade Gaynor delivered the big blow of the inning with a three-run homer just inside the fair poll in left field. It was the 23rd of the season for the junior third baseman. After a Chad Cregar walk, Matt Rice singled through the right side, setting up Terrence Dayleg’s double that sliced toward the right field line, past a diving Ryan Lollis, scoring Cregar to make it 4-0. Dayleg tied a career-high with four hits, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored.
Western Kentucky Recap
Missouri Recap
