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Maine Falls 5-0 To Ole Miss in NCAA Tournament
June 3, 2005 OXFORD, MS-- The University of Maine baseball team fell to Ole Miss 5-0 in the Oxford Regional of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night in Oxford, MS in front of 6,701 fans. The Black Bears fall to 34-18 on the season. Ole Miss improves to 45-18. Maine will now face Southern Miss in the losers bracket on Saturday, June 4 at 2:00 p.m. The Black Bears were playing in their 14th NCAA Regional and first since 2002 when they traveled to the University of Southern California. The Black Bears had a good start to the first inning but were unable to push across a run. Greg Creek (Manchester, Maine) singled to right field after just missing a home run several pitches earlier on a ball that went just foul. Joel Barrett (Brewer, Maine) hit a bloop single to right field to put runners on first and second with no outs, but Ole Miss was able to get out of the inning. Ole Miss got on the board with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Chris Coghlan singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Brian Pettway singled to center field scoring Coghlan. The Rebels loaded the bases in the second inning. Zach Cozart and Barry Gunther each singled before Miles Franklin walked to load the bases. Maine pitcher Greg Norton (South Portland, Maine) forced Justin Henry to ground into a double play to end the inning. Ole Miss added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gunther reached on a fielder's choice. Miles Franklin followed with a single to right field. Justin Henry drove home Gunther with a single through the right side. The Rebels drew back-to-back walks to open the sixth inning. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice by Gunther. Franklin drove home Cooper Osteen with a sacrifice fly to left field. Henry followed with a single to left field scoring Zach Cozart. Maine played outstanding defense in the game. The Black Bears turned three double plays and gunned down a runner headed for second base after a single to right field.
Greg Norton, who tied a Maine record with his 15th start of the season, went 5.2 innings. He allowed four runs on 11 hits to a team ranked in the top-10 in the country in most national baseball polls. Norton falls to 9-4 on the season. Scott Robinson (Ajax, Ontario) relieved Norton with two outs in the sixth inning. He made his 27th appearance on the season which set a Maine record for most appearances in a season by a pitcher. Robinson went 2.1 innings and allowed one run on one hit. |
