Ramsey Saves Bulldogs' 7-5 Win Over No. 4 Mississippi
April 03, 2004 | Baseball
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STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State relief ace Saunders Ramsey dominated his opposition again Saturday afternoon.
Ramsey threw 3-1/3 innings of shutout relief as the Bulldogs defeated arch-rival Mississippi 7-5 ito even the weekend series at Dudy Noble Field. The teams conclude their three-game set Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CDT.
A season-largest Dudy Noble Field crowd of 4,887 (7,556 paid) saw the Bulldogs improve to 17-9 overall and 3-5 in league play. Fourth-ranked Ole Miss fell to 23-4 overall and 6-2 in league play. The Rebels remained one full game ahead of LSU in the Western Division standings. LSU defeated Auburn 5-3 in another league contest Saturday afternoon.
Ramsey (4-0, 0.00), a former Starkville Academy standout, ran his scoreless innings streak to 21-1/3 innings. He entered Saturday's play with a 6-5 lead and two outs with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
"I really didn't know what to expect," Ramsey said. "The Ole Miss lineup basically has seven out of nine left-handers. I don't throw that often against left-handed hitters. So it made me felt good to have that type of success. Actually, the one hit I gave up was to a right-handed hitter so that was pretty frustrating."
Ramsey faced 11 batters with no walks and no strikeouts. A ground ball worked him out of the bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning. Ramsey retired the final eight batters he faced as a seventh-inning single by Brian Pettway was the only base runner allowed.
"It makes you feel good working behind Saunders," MSU outfielder Jeff Butts said. "He is a quick worker and you know he is going to throw strikes. You feel pretty confident that the game is in good shape when he comes to them mound."
Ramsey earned his fourth save of the season. Alan Johnson (1-1) battled into the sixth inning to earn his first win of the season. Brooks Dunn also got an out in relief in the sixth before giving away to Ramsey, who slammed the door on the Rebels.
"Saunders did his usual job," MSU coach Ron Polk said. "He's been very solid for us. At the same time, it was good to look at a box score and see only six men left on base. We did a good job with timely hits. It's not like the kids haven't been trying but we haven't been very fortunate in that department this year."
The Bulldogs bolted to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Craig Tatum reached Ole Miss starter Brae Wright for a two-run home run in the first inning. For Tatum, it was his fourth home run of the year. Brad Corley followed with his third home run - a towering blast to almost the same spot down the right field line.
The back-to-back home runs marked a first for MSU this season. It also gave the Bulldogs their sixth multi-home run game of the season and its first in league play.
Ole Miss battled back for a 3-3 tie with two runs in the second inning and another score in the third inning.
Brian Pettway hit his second home run of the season in the second inning. After that solo blast, Pettway followed with the RBI single to tie the game an inning later.
The Bulldogs regained the lead by scoring twice without a base hit in the fourth inning. Wright hit a pair, walked one and threw a wild pitch in that inning.
"We didn't pitch the game effectively enough to win," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. "We had a good enough game offensively (10 hits) but left too many men on."
The Bulldogs ran the lead to 6-3 in the fifth inning when a Joseph Hunter groundout. The key play in that inning was a perfectly-executed sacrifice bunt by Brad Jones.
After Ramsey weathered the Ole Miss comeback attempt in the sixth inning, the Bulldogs scored another insurance run in its half of the sixth inning.
"I knew we were in a good position," Ramsey said. "Ole Miss has a great hitting team so I just tried to stay ahead in the counts."
The Bulldogs also benefited from some strong defense. First baseman Brad Jones had a hit-robbing stab down the line, while Butts also made a run-preventing catch of a well-hit fly ball in left field. Those highlights offset the three errors made by the Bulldogs in the contest.
Wright (5-1) worked into the sixth inning. He allowed seven hits and seven runs (five earned). Wright struck out one, walked three and hit two more. Anthony Cupps threw 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Johnson allowed eight hits and five runs (four earned). He struck out four and walked three in an identical 5 1/3 innings of work.
For MSU, Butts finished with three hits giving him a 4-for-5 series through two games. Tatum also had multiple hits with a single and home run.
Pettway led Ole Miss with two singles and the home run, while Barry Gunther also had two singles.
MSU senior righty and team co-captain Jeff Lacher (2-3, 5.33) matches up with UM sophomore lefty Stephen Head (3-0, 3.21) in Sunday's deciding series finale.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 7, MISSISSIPPI 5UM 23-4 021 002 000 - 5 10 1 MSU 17-9 300 211 00x - 7 8 3WP-A. Johnson (1-1). LP-Wright (5-1). Sv-Ramsey (4). HR-B. Pettway (2); Tatum (4), Corley (3). T-2:36. A-4,887 (7556 paid).
