Bulldogs Clinch Super Bulldog Weekend Series Against Tennessee

Friday, April 20

Starkville

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

23-16, 7-10

Tennessee

22-17, 7-10

Tennessee

Mississippi State

Bulldogs Clinch Super Bulldog Weekend Series Against Tennessee

April 21, 2012 | Baseball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State pitcher Kendall Graveman made short work of the Tennessee baseball team Friday night.

Graveman threw his second complete game of the season as the Bulldogs glided past the Volunteers 7-1 to clinch the Super Bulldog Weekend Southeastern Conference series at Dudy Noble Field.

The Bulldogs won their second conference series of the season and third straight series against the Volunteers. MSU has now won seven straight games against UT for the first time in school history.

"To come out and beat them the way we did and Kendall throwing the way he did, really set the tone," MSU shortstop Adam Frazier said. "It feels good to finally win the second game in a series (first time this year). Hopefully, all of this momentum will carry over into tomorrow, because that is a big game."

Graveman threw 101 pitches and got 15 ground ball outs to complete a 2-hour, 12-minute masterpiece - MSU's shortest game of the season. The Bulldogs have received back-to-back nine-inning starts in the series, as Friday night's gem came after Chris Stratton worked nine innings but earned a no decision in a 2-1, 11-inning victory.

"My body felt really great and I knew I could go nine innings," said Gravemen, who earlier threw a complete game in a 7-1 win at LSU. "Our strength coach has prepared me for games like this. You knew they were eventually going to start hitting the ball because they were competing well in the batters' box. With a lead, my job was to throw strikes and fill the zone."

Graveman allowed three hits - the lowest hit total allowed by MSU pitching this season. Three hits also matched the lowest offensive output for Tennessee this season. Graveman matched a season high with eight strikeouts and walked two, while facing 33 batters - six past the minimum.

"I am really proud of Kendall, I thought he was phenomenal tonight," MSU head coach John Cohen said. "He commanded the strike zone. He threw 21 fastballs 90 miles per hour or faster. He showed up here throwing 82 to 84. He has always had movement. When a kid works so hard like that, you are going to cheer for him.

"And now next week, he gets to take engineering finals. You can't say enough good things about what he means to our ballclub."

The Bulldogs broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the fourth inning. C.T. Bradford opened the inning with a double. After a sacrifice bunt by Hunter Renfroe, Wes Rea slapped an RBI-double down the left field line. Matthew Britton would then draw a walk. After a groundout, Frazier ran the lead to 4-1 on a two-run triple.

Rea delivered again in the fifth inning with a critical two-run double, pushing the Maroon and White advantage to 6-1.

"Adam played spectacular defense for us," Cohen said. "We played a second straight game without making any mistakes defensively. Adam really stepped up for us and that is what we need. Then, Wes has two critical at-bats and delivers two critical hits. For us to make a run in the second half, we have to have that kind of production.

"I thought we did a better job of commanding the strike zone. These kids are working so hard. The makeup of this group is incredible. I would like to take credit for that. But you find these kinds of kids on the recruiting trail. They have tremendous makeup and they come from great families. I think we can go on a run in the second half because of the character of this group of kids and how bad they want this."

The Bulldogs finished with seven hits. Frazier, Rea and Bradford each had multiple hits. Frazier and Rea matched career highs with three RBIs apiece.

UT starter Robbie Kidd (2-1) was lifted with two outs in the fifth inning and took the loss.

The Bulldogs will be going for their first three-game weekend sweep of the season when the teams meet in Saturday's 1 p.m. series finale.

"We have a lot of confidence in this locker room," Graveman said. "We are excited about playing baseball every day. The second half of the season, we turned it around last year and we feel like we can do that again this year. We have some players who have been through this before. We are going to keep battling."