Rebs Silence Bulldog Bats, Win Mayor's Trophy Game 5-1
April 02, 2003 | Baseball
JACKSON, Miss. -- Solid pitching performances by a trio of Rebel pitchers Wednesday night helped lift Mississippi (18-10) to a 5-1 win over No. 5 Mississippi State (23-4-1) in the 24th renewal of the Mayor's Trophy Game before a sellout crowd of 5,689 at Smith-Wills Stadium. The UM win snapped a nine-game win streak by the Bulldogs, who were looking to complete a four-game season sweep of their in-state rivals.
Freshman left-hander Brae Wright (2-1) checked the Bulldogs on five hits over six innings, and teammates Anthony Cupps and Stephen Head blanked the Bulldogs over the final three frames to preserve the win. Head retired Jeff Butts on an infield groundout to end the game and earn his fifth save of the year.
The Rebels pulled away from a close contest in the fifth inning, scoring three runs to take a 5-1 lead that held up the remainder of the game. Charlie Waite drove in two runs with a double to right and Matt Tolbert drove in another run with a single, UM's fourth hit of the inning.
MSU starter Brad Corley (0-1) ran into control problems in the first inning, giving up a run on three walks and a pair of singles. A double play helped limit UM to a single run, that comingon a passed ball. Waite walked and later scored on Tolbert's sacrifice fly to right in the fourth, giving UM a 2-0 lead.
The Bulldogs got back-to-back singles from Matthew Maniscalco and Steve Gendron to open the game. But Wright retired the next 13 batters he faced before giving up a run on back-to-back two-out doubles by Winston Pearson and Jon Mungle. Maniscalco's game-opening single extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Corley walked four and was charged with two runs on five hits during his four-inning stint. Freshman Brooks Dunn, who retired just one of the five batters he faced after replacing Corley in the fifth, was charged with the other three UM runs.
Jonathan Swearingen, Seth Smith and Charlie Waite had two hits each to pace UM's 11-hit attack, the most allowed by Bulldog pitching this year.
The Bulldogs return to SEC action and launch a season-longest eight-game home stand Friday at Dudy Noble Field, taking on the Kentucky Wildcats (11-17, 0-9 SEC) in Friday's 6:30 p.m. series opener. Kentucky claimed a win in their lone midweek game Wednesday, nipping Cincinnati 10-9.
MISSISSIPPI 5, MISSISSIPPI STATE 1
MSU 000 010 000 -- 1 7 0UM 100 130 00x -- 5 11 1
WP -- Brae Wright (2-1). LP -- Brad Corley. SV -- Stephen Head (5). T -- 2:41. ATT -- 5,689.
Brad Corley, Brooks Dunn (5), Saunders Ramsey (5), Brett Cleveland (8) and J.B. Tucker. Brae Wright, Anthony Cupps (7), Stephen Head (9) and Charlie Waite.
