Texas Holds Off Ole Miss

Nick Peoples and Carson Kainer hit home runs to help Texas overcome a Mississippi rally and even their super-regional series at one game apiece with a 3-1 victory Sunday at Oxford, Miss.

Earlier, Ole Miss beat the Longhorns, 6-4, in the completion of the best-of-three series opener, which was suspended because of rain Saturday night.

The deciding game will be played today.

In the second game, the Rebels (48-19) loaded the bases with one out in the ninth inning on a walk, but J. Brent Cox got Cooper Osteen to bounce into a game-ending double play to close out his 16th save. Freshman Adrian Alaniz (6-3) struck out six and gave up one run for the victory for Texas (50-16). Matt Maloney (8-3) lost for the first time since May 7, a span of five starts.

In the completion of the opener, Mississippi’s Mark Wright capped a four-run seventh with a tiebreaking, two-run single.

Texas brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the ninth, but Stephen Head retired Chance Wheeless and Taylor Teagarden.

Anthony Cupps (9-3) took over for Mark Holliman, who started Saturday night and gave up two runs in four innings. Head went three innings for his eighth save. Cox (7-3) lost.

Tulane 7, Rice 0 -- Micah Owings pitched a three-hit shutout, and top-seeded Tulane tied its series at 1-1, at New Orleans. The deciding game will be today.

“He had great stuff and good location -- something you rarely see at this level,” Rice Coach Wayne Graham said of Owings (11-4), who struck out eight and walked one. “He probably threw the best fastball we’ve seen this year -- and he spotted it. It wasn’t like he was throwing them down the middle.”

The Green Wave (54-10) took a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning when pinch-hitter Scott Madden drew a bases-loaded walk from starter Joe Savery. Tulane, designated the visiting team, scored six times in the top of the ninth.

Savery (8-5), a left-hander, started despite hurting his right hand while chasing a foul ball against the wall a day earlier, when he started at first base. That injury forced him to leave Saturday’s game, and Graham would not even say until Sunday morning whether Savery would pitch.

But Savery opened the game with a strikeout and matched Owings in limiting Tulane to two hits through six innings.

It even appeared Savery would get out of the seventh unscathed when Tulane’s Brian Bogusevic, with two out, hit a high chopper that was fielded cleanly behind first base by Jordan Dodson. But Bogusevic, the fastest runner on the Green Wave, beat Dodson to the base to load the bases and set up Madden’s run-scoring walk. Savery said he would not have used his injury as an excuse even if he hadn’t pitched well, but he was irritated with himself for not covering first base as Dodson fielded Bogusevic’s infield hit.

“I probably should have been getting over there, but as soon as I saw him catch it I thought he was going to take it himself,” Savery said.

Rice (45-18), which scored nine runs in the first five innings of its series-opening 9-5 victory on Saturday, hasn’t scored in 13 innings since.

Baylor 7, Clemson 1 -- Mark McCormick struck out 10 in 8 1/3 innings to help the Bears (43-22) even their super-regional series at 1-1, with the final game set for today at Waco, Texas.

Jeff Mandel had two hits with two RBIs for Baylor. McCormick (8-3) threw a career-high 137 pitches and gave up five hits.

Taylor Harbins’ infield single in the third scored the run for Clemson (43-22).

Josh Cribb (8-5) gave up 12 hits and seven runs in the loss. He struck out five.