Butts, Hunter Spark State To 14-7 Win Over MVSU
March 01, 2005 | Baseball
STARKVILLE - A five-run first inning and seven-run fourth inning were the big blows as No. 17 Mississippi State defeated Mississippi Valley State 14-7 in college baseball action Tuesday afternoon.
A Dudy Noble Field crowd of 805 braved bitterly cold conditions to watch the Bulldogs improve to 3-0 on the young season. Mississippi Valley fell to 3-8.
For the Bulldogs, Jeff Butts had three extra-base hits. Butts had a pair of doubles, a triple and a career-high four RBIs. Joseph Hunter also had three hits and three RBIs.
"This was a good game for us," Butts said. "The key was to come out and establish the tempo early. We had a big offensive game the last time we played and we were able to carry that over to this win."
After pounding out 20 hits in a 16-6 win over Eastern Illinois Saturday, the Bulldogs collected another 15 hits Tuesday. Brad Corley, Brad Jones and Brian LaNinfa each had multiple hits as spots two through five in the MSU lineup combined for 12 hits.
"The production hitters did what they had to do," MSU coach Ron Polk said. "We executed a couple of hit-and-runs early. We did a good job of getting on base and then finding a way to get those runners in."
Butts' RBI-triple started the scoring in the MSU first inning. Corley and Hunter also had run-producing hits in that at-bat. The only three errors in the contest extended Valley's misery in the fourth inning. Butts had a bases-clearing double in that at-bat, while Hunter brought home a pair of runs with a triple to right center.
After that big inning, MSU led 12-0.
The Delta Devils battled back with five runs in the fifth inning. A two-run double by Ian Corona and two-run single by Derrick Weeks were the big blows in that inning.
MVSU closed the gap some more with singles runs in the seventh and eighth innings. MSU answered with two runs in its half of the eighth inning to close out the game's scoring.
Cory Littleton finished with three hits of MVSU's nine hits. Weeks also had multiple hits for the Delta Devils.
"We did a lot of things right today," Butts said. "The important thing about games early in the season is building confidence."
Junior lefty Brooks Dunn (1-0), making his seasonal debut, pitched four innings of two-hit shutout baseball to lead a split bulldog pitching crew and earn the win. For Dunn, it was his third win in as many career starts. Jeremiah Boling, Brett Cleveland, Eric Ebers and Mike Valentine worked in relief for MSU.
Starkville native J.T. Stovall (1-2), the first of six Delta Devil hurlers in the game, gave up five runs in two innings to take the loss.
MSU hosts Austin Peay at 3 p.m. Friday in first-round play of the NBC Classic. Austin Peay and Kansas play the tournament opener at 11 a.m. Friday.
