Mississippi State
19-17, 5-10
Tennessee
18-19, 4-11
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UT | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
| Mississippi State | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 14 | 15 | 2 |
State Posts 14-6 Sunday Win To Take Series From Volunteers
April 18, 2010 | Baseball
• Official Statistics
• Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State continued its offensive tear Sunday afternoon, as the Baseball Bulldogs pounded out 15 hits while taking a 14-6 win over the Tennessee Volunteers at Dudy Noble Field.
With the victory, MSU captured the Super Bulldog Weekend Southeastern Conference series, two games to one. The Bulldogs have now taken three straight home series against the Volunteers. M-State's two series wins this year already match the total number of league series won in each of the last two seasons.
More importantly, the Bulldogs moved into a three-way tie for eighth place in the overall league standing. At the official midway mark of the league race, this bodes important, because the top eight teams advance to the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., in late May.
The Bulldogs are now 19-17 overall and 5-10 in league play, while the Vols fall to 18-19 and 4-11.
"In this league, you can win 66 percent of the your games and win it," MSU head coach John Cohen said. "You can win 33 percent of your games and make a regional. If we can just find a way to get in the (SEC) tournament, our RPI can get us in a regional.
"That is not out of the realm of possibilities. I like our chances with what we can do."
While the Bulldogs had a couple of strong outings by freshman pitchers, the story of the spring homecoming weekend had to be the resurgence of the Maroon and White offense. MSU had 11 or more runs and 13 or more hits in all three weekend games. The Bulldogs racked UT pitching for 38 runs and 43 hits.
MSU again started strong Sunday afternoon, scoring five times in third inning to bolt out to a 7-1 advantage. Such early offense had to lift the spirits of MSU freshman left-hander Luke Bole, who worked a career best six innings to earn his first victory in league play. Bole (2-0) allowed eight hits and four runs (all earned), with two strikeouts and two walks.
"Luke is starting to finish his delivery and that is really helping him," Cohen said. "We had three freshmen throwing around 91 (mph) today. From a pitching standpoint, we have a really good foundation here."
The Bulldogs grabbed an early 2-0 first-inning lead when Nick Vickerson doubled, Conner Powers RBI-doubled and Russ Sneed RBI-singled.
In the five-run third innings, Powers drove in a pair with the second of his career-best three doubles in the contest. The Bulldogs' slugging first baseman now has seven three-hit and four three-RBI games for the season.
Also in the third inning, Jaron Shepherd continued his string of quality at-bats by lining a 1-1 pitch for a two-run double down the right field line. Vickerson added a sacrifice-fly in that at-bat.
The Bulldogs struck for another five-spot in the fifth inning. This time, Jet Butler had the monster hit, lining a three-run triple to the corner of the right field wall. Ryan Duffy had an RBI-single before that hit, while Butler later come home on a sacrifice-fly by Wes Thigpen.
In the sixth inning, a two-run single by Sneed ran the advantage to 14-3 for the hosts.
Powers paced the MSU offensive attack with three of his squad's 15 hits. Vickerson, Sneed and Butler added multiple hits.
UT finished with 10 hits. Matt Duffy had three hits, while Josh Liles and Khayyan Norfork added multiple hits. Starting pitcher Steven Gruver (1-3) was chased during the five-run third inning and took the loss.
In relief of Bole, Kendall Graveman allowed a pair of runs in two innings of work. Ben Bracewell struck out a pair while working a perfect ninth inning.
The Bulldogs will try to finish a nine-game homestand with a winning record when Alcorn State pays a visit to Dudy Noble Field Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. League play resumes next weekend when MSU travels to Alabama.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bole, Luke (2-0)
L: GRUVER (1-3)
Batting:
2B: DUFFY 2 ; RAMSEY 1
RBI: NORFORK 1 ; OSBORNE 1 ; POLK 1 ; RAMSEY 1 ; FORSYTHE 1 ; LILES 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DUFFY 2 ; RAMSEY 1 ; LILES 2 ; GRISHAM 1
Batting:
2B: Vickerson, Nick 1 ; Powers, Connor 3 ; Shepherd, Jaron 1
3B: Butler, Jet 1
RBI: Vickerson, Nick 1 ; Powers, Connor 3 ; Sneed, Russ 3 ; Duffy, Ryan 1 ; Butler, Jet 3 ; Thigpen, Wes 1 ; Shepherd, Jaron 2
SF: Vickerson, Nick 1 ; Thigpen, Wes 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vickerson, Nick 1 ; Adkins, Luke 2 ; Powers, Connor 3 ; Sneed, Russ 1 ; Duffy, Ryan 1 ; Collins, Ryan 1 ; Butler, Jet 2 ; Thigpen, Wes 1 ; Shepherd, Jaron 1 ; Ogden, Jonathan 1
CS: Shepherd, Jaron 1
HBP: Sneed, Russ 1
PO: Shepherd, Jaron 1
