Bulldogs Top Hatters In Tourney Opener; Rea Ties School Career Hits Record

Friday, June 1

Tallahassee, Fla.

TBA

Mississippi State

Stetson

Bulldogs Top Hatters In Tourney Opener; Rea Ties School Career Hits Record

June 01, 2007 | Baseball

By: hailstate.com

* Official Statistics
* Official Statistics [PDF]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Mitch Moreland's solo home run in the fourth inning broke a scoreless deadlock Friday afternoon and No. 27 Mississippi State plated five middle inning runs en route to a 6-3 win over Stetson in the opening game of the 2007 NCAA Tallahassee Regional.

The win advances the Bulldogs to a 6 p.m. (CDT) winner's bracket matchup between the winner of Friday night's Florida State-Bethune Cookman matchup.

We pitched well today and got some timely hits, said Bulldog skipper Ron Polk, who for the 18th time this season was coaching against a former pupil. Stetson is coached by Pete Dunn, who got his collegiate coaching start as a graduate assistant on Ron Polk's 1972 staff at Georgia Southern.

Sophomore right-hander Chad Crosswhite (8-4) scattered six hits and held Stetson scoreless during his 5-1/3-inning start. Crosswhite walked two and struck our four before giving way to John Lalor in the sixth. Lalor allowed three runs on two hits, one a two-run home run. Freshman Rick Bowen retired the six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings, three with strikeouts, to register his team-leading fifth save.

After being blanked for three frames by lefty Chris Ingoglia (9-6), State score five runs in the middle innings, building up a 5-0 lead before finishing with a 6-3 win.

Senior left fielder Joseph McCaskill matched a career-high with three hits to pace MSU at the plate. We had some good at-bats today. I think (the offense) is coming back together like it was early in the season. It was good to get back to double-digit totals in hits. That's something we haven't done much of in a while.

Another Bulldog senior, Jeffrey Rea, singled in his last two at-bats, raising his career hist total to 328 and tying the MSU career hits record (328) set by Richard Lee.

Mississippi State has had so many great hitters over the years it's an honor to pass those guys on the list, said Rea. And it's huge to open up the tournament with a win.

Rea made his third season and career start in center field, shifting over from left field with the return of Jeff Flagg. Flagg, Rea and senior designated hitter Brian LaNinfa had two hits each. Eight of nine Bulldog starters had hits as MSU totaled 13 hits, its highest total since May 6 and a 14-hit outing against Auburn.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the third inning with a pair of errors and Joseph McCaskill's second single of the game. But Ingoglia got out of the jam when Edward Easley grounded into a double play.

Moreland plated the game's first run and gave State a 1-0 lead with a home run, his eighth of the year to open the fourth inning. MSU loaded the bases with an error. A bloop single in shallow right and an intentional walk before Ingoglia fanned Jet Butler and Jeffrey Rea to end the Bulldog threat.

State expanded its lead to 2-0 an inning later. Joseph mcCaskill opned the inning with his third hit of the afternoon, moved to third when Edward Easley singled to left, and scored on an infield groundout by Mitch Moreland.

Bulldog starter Chad Crosswhite issued a one-out walk, gave up a single to Aaron Crittenden, and left the game after falling behind 2-0 on Jeremy Cruz. John Lalor followed Crosswhite to the hill, striking out Cruz and Clendenin.

The Buldogs expanded the lead and chased Stetson starter Ingoglia from the game with a three-run burst in the sixth. Brian LaNinfa's double to right opened the surge, and Russ Sneed drove him home with a sharply hit single to left-center. Jet Butler advanced Sneed with a single and Jeffrey Rea extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an RBI hit to left. With the hit Rea tied Travis Chapman for second place on MSU's career hits list with 327, one shy of the school record.

The Hatters matched the Bulldog outburst in their next at-bat, playing three with a two-out rally. Shane Jordan drew a one-out walk and Braedyn Pruitt laced a 1-2 pitch off the left-center wall, scoring Jordan. Justin Bass then drilled his fifth home run of the season to right, closing the MSU lead to 5-3.

State got one of the runs back in the seventh. LaNinfa and Flagg laced two-out singles, both advanced on a passed ball and LaNinfa scored on a balk.

Ricky Bowen retired the Hatters in order in the eighth and ninth innings to close out the game and send the Bulldogs into a Saturday night winner's bracket game.

Ingoglia (9-6) took the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits. He walked one and struck out five. Justin Dechert gave up three hits and one unearned over the final 2-2/3 innings.

Stetson third baseman Braedyn Pruitt doubled in one run and scored another in a two-hit plate performance.

Junior left Justin Pigott (5-6) will open on the mound for the Bulldogs in their second NCAA Tournament game.