Mississippi State
South Alabama
Bulldogs Down Jaguars 5-1 In Midweek Affair
January 01, 1970 | Baseball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
PEARL, Miss. - Mississippi State true freshman left-hander Tyler Whitney turned in a career-best, six-inning outing as Mississippi State rallied past South Alabama 5-1 in college baseball action Wednesday night at Trustmark Park.
A crowd of 3,370 watched the first of two MSU contests at the minor league home of the Class AA Mississippi Braves. The Bulldogs return to the Jackson area next Tuesday night for the inagural Governor's Cup meeting with in-state rival Mississippi.
Whitney (2-1) allowed three hits and struck out a career-high eight batters with no walks allowed in six innings of work. He threw 89 pitches and only allowed a second-inning home run to USA's Jeff Cunningham - a team-leading 13th home run for the Jaguars' first baseman.
MSU (22-8) rallied from that 1-0 deficit with three runs in the seventh inning. Mitch Moreland ripped a two-run double to left center, placing the Bulldogs ahead for good. Mark Goforth reached as hit batsman to start the MSU seventh inning. That was the end of the day for USA starter Joey Doan.
Jeffrey Rea sacrificed Goforth to second base. Brandon Turner then drew a walk. Edward Easley reached as a hit batsman, loading the bases. Easley then plated MSU's first run on a wild pitch. Moreland followed with his two-run double, plating the go-ahead score, off of USA reliever Brett Turner (1-1).
USA (17-16) tried to answer right back in its half of the seventh inning. John Lalor entered in relief of Whitney to start the frame. David Doss began the frame with a double down the left field line. Jeff Cunningham walked and Eric Shortell singled through the right side to load the bases.
The Bulldogs then turned to Aaron Weatherford in relief. Weatherford, a regular weekend starter for the Bulldogs, did not pitch in last weekend's Arkansas series win due to tendonitis. However, the sophomore right-hander was very sharp Wednesday night, getting a popup and two swinging strikeouts as the Jauguars left the bases loaded.
In the MSU eighth inning, Andy Rice singled and later scored on a USA throwing error. Rice also had an RBI single an inning later to close out the Bulldogs' scoring.
Weatherford ran his strikeout string to five straight by striking out the side in the eighth. Mitch Moreland worked around a one-out single to pitch a scoreless ninth inning. The MSU pitching trio allowed six hits and struck out 14 batters in the victory.
Brian LaNinfa and Rice each had multiple hits for the Bulldogs, who finished with seven hits. MSU threatened early but stranded 12 runners in the contest.
For MSU coach Ron Polk, it was his 1,100th victory in 28 seasons as the Bulldogs head coach.
The Bulldogs resume their eight-game, four-team road trip with a Southeastern Conference series against Eastern Division foe Tennessee this weekend in Knoxville, Tenn. The MSU-UT series has game times of 6 p.m. CT Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. CT Sunday. The Friday and Saturday games will be televised by CSS.
