Vols Outlast Bulldogs To Take Game 1 In Slugfest, 15-13

Friday, April 16

Starkville

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

17-17, 3-10

Tennessee

18-17, 4-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
UT	1	0	5	3	5	0	0	1	0	15	22	2
Mississippi State	2	0	4	3	0	1	2	0	1	13	15	0

Mississippi State Drops Series Opener At LSU In 14-13 Slugfest

Vols Outlast Bulldogs To Take Game 1 In Slugfest, 15-13

April 16, 2010 | Baseball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

• Official Statistics
• Official Statistics (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. - An informal home run derby broke out Friday night at Dudy Noble Field. The visiting Tennessee Volunteers got the better of it, slapping five home runs to defeat Mississippi State 15-13 in the opening game of a weekend Southeastern Conference baseball series.

A season-best crowd of 5,124 helped the Bulldogs and Volunteers usher in the 2010 installment of Super Bulldog Weekend. Unfortunately when MSU's longest game of the season (4 hours, 8 minutes) drew to a close, the Bulldogs had lost a Friday night conference ballgame for the fourth time in five weekends.

UT improved to 18-17 overall and 4-9 in league play, while MSU fell to 17-17 and 3-10.

"We competed tonight," said MSU head coach John Cohen, who was ejected during the seventh inning after a critical called third strike. "Our pitchers did not throw well tonight. However, as a team, we competed hard and battled throughout the game."

Down 6-2 in the third inning, the Maroon and White responded with a game-tying four run inning. Down 9-6 an inning later, the Bulldogs battled back with three more scores of their own. However, the UT five-spot in the fifth inning proved too much to overcome. Still, the hosts had their chances, stranding two runners in scoring position in the seventh inning, a runner at first base in the eighth inning and a runner at second base in the ninth inning.

The late rally could not salvage a sparkling night by a pair of Bulldogs. Senior Luke Adkins set a new career high with five of his team's 15 hits. Fellow senior Russ Sneed also had a career high with three doubles, which matched a school record. The doubles mark had last been reached by Adkins earlier this season. Sneed also had a season-best four RBIs.

Still, five MSU pitchers had difficulty keeping the Volunteers in the ballpark. UT hit five home runs by five different players in four different innings. All told, UT scored 11 of their 15 runs off the long ball.

For MSU, Connor Powers hit his 10th home run of the season but first in league play in the home half of the first inning. That two-run shot erased an early 1-0 deficit and gave the hosts their only lead of the night at 2-1.

In the UT third inning, an RBI-single by Cody Hawn tied the contest 2-2. A two-run single by Matt Duffy put the Vols up 4-2. That hit chased MSU starter Caleb Reed. New pitcher Chad Girodo was touched for a two-run home run by Blake Forsythe. The Vols actually pieced together seven straight hits to start the third inning - with the first five coming off Reed.

The Bulldogs tied things, thanks in part to a two-run double by Sneed and RBI-single by Jet Butler.

An inning later, UT grabbed a 9-6 lead on a three-run home run by Charley Thurber. Again, the hosts came roaring back with an infield error opening the door. Powers had an RBI-single, Sneed had an RBI-double and Cody Freeman knocked a sacrifice-fly to make it 9-9.

The hosts then found the fifth inning too much to overcome. Devin Jones was touched for a two-run home run by P.J. Polk. Tyler Whitney gave up a three-run shot to Duffy.

Whitney then blanked the Vols back-to-back innings before allowing a solo shot to Matt Ramsey in the UT eighth inning.

The Bulldogs drew closer with a single score in the sixth inning, two runs in the seventh inning and Sneed's RBI-double in the ninth inning. Still, the hosts could not get over the hump.

MSU finished with 15 hits. Powers had his fifth three-hit game, while Sneed had his third. Sneed also set a season-high with four RBIs. Nick Vickerson added multiple hits.

Josh Liles had four of UT's 22 hits. Polk, Ramsey and Duffy each had three hits, while Khayyan Norfork, Hawn, Thurber and Forsythe each had multiple hits. Duffy had a game-best five RBIs.

Steve Crnkovich (3-1) pitched 3.1 innings in relief to earn the win. Ramsey worked around trouble in the ninth inning for his second save. Jones (2-2) took the loss. Whitney pitched the final five innings for the Bulldogs, allowing six hits and a pair of runs - on the two home runs.

The series resumes at 1 p.m. Saturday. UT is scheduled to start senior right-hander Stephen McCray (4-3, 1.99 ERA), while MSU is scheduled to start freshman right-hander Chris Stratton (3-3, 3.43). The series finale is at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.