Sexton Tosses Four Shutout Innings Monday
October 05, 2015 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Junior right-handed pitcher Austin Sexton was dominant in four shutout innings Monday afternoon, leading Gray to a 6-5 win against Maroon in Mississippi State's 11th scrimmage of the fall. The seven-inning exhibition took place at Dudy Noble Field. All at-bats from the fifth inning on started with a 1-1 count.
Sexton struck out four and allowed just one hit and one walk in the start for Gray. Redshirt freshman right-hander Cole Gordon picked up the save with a scoreless seventh.
Leading the way offensively for Gray were freshman infielder Hunter Stovall (2 for 3, run) and senior infielder Matt Spruill (2 for 2, run). Junior transfer Nathaniel Lowe collected two RBIS and scored once, while redshirt junior Cody Brown and freshman outfielder Brant Blaylock drove in one run each.
Following a pitchers' duel through 3 1/2 innings, Gray broke the scoreless tie with a six-run fourth. Spruill led off the bottom of the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior outfielder Mike Smith. Following a single through the six hole by Stovall, junior outfielder Reid Humphreys walked.
Lowe then ripped a bases-loaded two-RBI single past a diving Delvin Zinn at second, scoring Spruill and Stovall. Sophomore infielder Ryan Gridley was then hit by a pitch to load the bases once again, before Humphreys scored on a sacrifice fly by Brown.
With Gray leading 3-0, freshman catcher Elih Marrero then singled to left field. Lowe sprinted from second and turned around third headed home, forcing a throw to the dish from left field. Maroon's catcher made a fielding error on the throw home, allowing both Lowe and Gridley to score. Marrero advanced to second on the throw home and to third on the error, eventually scoring on a double by Blaylock.
Down 6-0, Maroon plated four runs in the fifth thanks to a pair of walks, two hit batters, a balk and a sacrifice fly. The visitors cut the deficit to one in the sixth on an RBI single by Zinn.
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2015 Mississippi State Fall Scrimmage Schedule
Scrimmage 1 - Gray 3, Maroon 1 (Reynolds 3 RBIs, Rooker HR)
Scrimmage 2 – Maroon 4, Gray 3 (Hudson 1 ER in 3.0 IP, Rooker 2 for 3 with 2 R)
Scrimmage 3 – Maroon 9, Gray 6 (HR by Barfield and Rooker)
Scrimmage 4 – Gray 8, Maroon 5 (James 1 ER in 3.0 IP, HR by Stovall)
Scrimmage 5 – Maroon 5, Gray 1 (Small/Hughes: 9 K in 7 IP, 1 ER)
Scrimmage 6 – Maroon 6, Gray 2 (HR by Alexander and Gordon)
Scrimmage 7 – Gray 3, Maroon 2 (Tatum 4 IP, 0 ER; M. Smith 3 for 3, 3SB)
Scrimmage 8 – Maroon 4, Gray 3 (Robson 2 for 3, 2 2B; Kruger HR)
Scrimmage 9 – Maroon 11, Gray 3 (Stovall 3 for 3, Breaux 3 IP, 0 ER)
Scrimmage 10 – Gray 3, Maroon 0 (D. Brown 5 K in 3 IP, 0 ER)
Scrimmage 11 – Gray 6, Maroon 5 (Sexton 4 IP, 4 K, 0 ER)
Scrimmage 12 – Tuesday, Oct. 6 - 1 p.m.
Scrimmage 13 – Friday, Oct. 9
Scrimmage 14 – Saturday, Oct. 10*
Scrimmage 15 – Sunday, Oct. 11
Scrimmage 16 – Wednesday, Oct. 14
Scrimmage 17 – Friday, Oct. 16 (Game 1 of Bulldog World Series)
Scrimmage 18 – Saturday, Oct. 17* (Game 2 of Bulldog World Series)
Scrimmage 19 – Sunday, Oct. 18 (Game 3 of Bulldog World Series)
* = Will take place before or after MSU football's home game
NOTES: All dates are subject to change due to weather. All schedule changes and game times will be announced on Twitter at @HailStateBB. Admission to all scrimmages is free and open to the public.
