Ole Miss claims SEC West title
First, there was Georgia's win over Arkansas. Then there was a two-hour lightning delay. Following that was some late drama.
But at the end of the day, there was an SEC West title in Ole Miss' possession.
The Bulldogs' win put the fifthranked Rebels in position to claim the division title and, unlike Friday, they capitalized with a 10-8 victory over lastplace Alabama Saturday night.
Ole Miss (42-14, 18-12 SEC) and Arkansas (37-17, 18-12) finished tied atop the SEC West standings but the Rebels took two out of three from the Razorbacks in March, so they own the tiebreaker, which gave them the division title and the No. 2 seed in next week's conference tournament.
A loss would have dropped Ole Miss to the fifth seed in the tournament and forced it to open tournament play Tuesday in a single-elimination game. With the No. 2 seed, the Rebels won't have to play until Wednesday and will open in the double-elimination portion of the tournament.
Ole Miss will face the winner of Tuesday's Auburn/Kentucky matchup on Wednesday.
The Rebels, who were projected to finish third in the division in the preseason, reached this point with an offense that was relentless Saturday. With an 8-6 lead in the eighth, Cole Zabowski, who was the offensive star, created some separation with a two-run single to right field, which gave Ole Miss a four-run lead.
Zabowski went 4-for-5 with six RBIs against the Crimson Tide Saturday and provided a much-needed spark for an offense which had gone surprisingly quiet over the past two days.
The Rebels, who scored just three runs in the first two games of this series, seemed to have an answer whenever the Crimson Tide (27-29, 8-22) posed a threat.
When Alabama tied the game, 2-2, in the second, Ole Miss responded with four runs in the top of the third. Thomas Dillard broke the tie with an RBI single, Zabowksi followed with a two-run home run, and Tyler Keenan added to the damage with an RBI single of his own.
Then the lightning came and delayed the game for two hours and six minutes, which forced Rebels starter James McArthur from the game after just two innings.
Ole Miss utilized a combination of five pitchers the rest of the way. Greer Holston entered in the seventh with the Rebels hanging onto a 7-6 lead and stabilized things.
As soon as Holton entered the game, he quickly induced a double play, then retired the next three batters he faced before allowing an infield single with two outs in the eighth.