Mississippi State
24-28, 0
Tennessee
22-25, 0
Baseball Drops Series Opener At Tennessee
May 15, 2015 | Baseball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Mississippi State failed to cash in on early scoring opportunities and it cost them dearly in Southeastern Conference baseball action Thursday night.
Tennessee erased an early deficit and pulled away to a 5-2 win against MSU in the opening game of a three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
MSU dropped to 24-28 overall and 8-20 in league play. Tennessee improved to 22-25 and 9-18. With Georgia's 10-1 win vs. Arkansas Thursday, the Maroon and White were officially eliminated from postseason competition this season.
“Tonight was a game of psychology,” MSU head coach John Cohen said. “In all of the winnable moments of this game, we failed miserably.”
In the MSU first inning, Gavin Collins drew a walk and Luke Reynolds hit a double. From there, the Bulldogs only managed one run on a ground ball out by Wes Rea.
MSU received five walks over the first three innings but only scored on one of them.
Meanwhile, Tennessee overcame the slow start by scoring single runs in the second and third innings on home runs by Andrew Lee and Nick Senzel.
The Volunteers then chased Bulldog starter Lucas Laster with three runs in the fourth inning. The big blows in that frame were an RBI-single by Jordan Rodgers and a two-run single by Senzel.
MSU closed the scoring in the eighth inning when Jake Vickerson doubled and later scored on a wild pitch.
For the contest, MSU finished with four hits – a hit apiece by Collins, Reynolds, Vickerson and Matthew Britton.
Tennessee finished with nine hits. Rogers, Senzel and Christin Stewart had two hits apiece for the Volunteers.
Laster (4-4) lasted 3.1 innings, with six hits and four runs (three earned) allowed. Laster struck out two and walked none. Ross Mitchell allowed three hits and one run (unearned) in 4.2 innings of relief work.
Andy Cox (3-3) pitched seven innings to earn the win. Cox allowed three hits and one run (earned), with six walks and six strikeouts. Andrew Lee picked up his ninth save.
The series continues at 5 p.m. CT Friday. The game will not be televised.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Andy Cox (3-3)
L: Laster, Lucas (4-4)
S: Andrew Lee (9)
Batting:
2B: Reynolds, Luke 1 ; Vickerson, Jake 1 ; Britton, Matthew 1
RBI: Rea, Wes 1
SH: Holland, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Collins, Gavin 1 ; Vickerson, Jake 1
SB: Smith, Mike 1
HBP: Reynolds, Luke 1
Batting:
2B: Jordan Rodgers 1
HR: Nick Senzel 1 ; Andrew Lee 1
RBI: Nick Senzel 3 ; Andrew Lee 1 ; Jordan Rodgers 1
SH: Chris Hall 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nick Senzel 1 ; A.J. Simcox 1 ; Andrew Lee 1 ; Jordan Rodgers 1 ; Chris Hall 1
SB: Chris Hall 1
CS: Christin Stewart 1
