Bulldogs Edge Pioneers, 6-5, To Clinch Series

Saturday, March 12

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

12-3

Sacred Heart University

4-6

Sacred Heart

Mississippi State

Bulldogs Edge Pioneers, 6-5, To Clinch Series

March 12, 2011 | Baseball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

STARKVILLE, Miss. - A wild pitch in the eighth inning plated the go-ahead run as Mississippi State squeezed past Sacred Heart 6-5 in a college baseball game played Saturday night at Dudy Noble Field.

The Bulldogs rallied from 2-0 and 5-4 deficits to win a third straight game. MSU (12-3) clinches the weekend series from Sacred Heart (4-6) in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Maroon and White opened the series with a 5-0 victory Friday night.

MSU got a huge lift from a pair of freshmen pitchers. After an atypical struggle for starter Chris Stratton, Taylor Stark retired the side in order in the eighth inning. Stark was lifted after a leadoff single an inning later. Caleb Reed then got an out on a sacrifice bunt attempt. C.T. Bradford then went from the right field to the mound.

Bradford got a flyout and strikeout to snuff the final Pioneers' threat.

"(Coming in lefty versus lefty) is perfect for me," Bradford said. "I like the swing the stick, but I'll come in late and throw, too. I mixed in a few off-speed pitches but the fastball is what I was most comfortable with, so I stuck with that."

MSU head coach John Cohen has been pleased with the progress of still a relatively-young pitching staff.

"We feel like C.T. is our best lefty on lefty guy," Cohen said. "He may end up playing a much bigger role for us later on."

Stratton entered the contest with a 3-0 record and 0.44 ERA. In seven innings of work, the sophomore right-hander allowed four hits and five runs (four earned), with five strikeouts and three walks.

Sacred Heart grabbed a 2-0 lead when John Murphy hit a two-run home run three batters into the contest.

The Bulldogs answered with a Nick Vickerson single, Bradford double and Jarrod Parks single in the home half of the first inning. Bradford's double scored one run, while a groundball out hit by Ryan Collins scored the other.

MSU moved to a 4-2 advantage with a pair of scores in the fourth inning. A Parks' double started this at-bat. Cody Freeman reached as a hit batsman. A wild pitch scored one run, while an RBI-single by Jonathan Ogden scored another.

The Pioneers took advantage of three walks, an error and one hit to score three times in the fifth inning. A sacrifice-fly by Bradford brought the teams back even in the home half of the fifth inning.

Things stayed that way until the eighth inning. Daryl Norris had a one-out single. After a flyout, a pair of walks loaded the bases. A wild pitch brought pinch runner Adam Frazier home with the game-winner.

The Bulldogs finished with nine hits, after having six in Friday's series opener.

"Your knee jerk reaction is that we are not getting good at-bats right now," Cohen said. "But when you go back and watch the film, it's much better than you think. We're not a team that is going to get a lot of home runs so timely hitting is more important for us."

Vickerson, Parks, Norris and Ogden each had multiple hits for the Bulldogs. Vickerson stole a team-best 12^th stolen base. Stark improved to 1-0 with the pitching win, while Bradford earned his first save.

Steve Tedesco had two of Sacred Heart's five hits. M.J. Schifano (0-1) took the loss, in relief of starter Troy Scribner. Scribner was lifted with two outs in the seventh inning.

Freshman right-hander Evan Mitchell (3-0, 2.45) is slated for to start the 1:30 p.m. series finale for MSU.