Bulldogs Pile Up 20 Hits In 13-1 Win Over Samford
April 13, 2005 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- No. 21 Mississippi State (22-8) matched a season high with 20 base hits Wednesday night in a 13-1 romp over Samford (9-22) in college baseball action at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs finished a modest five-game home stand with a 4-1 mark and improved to 18-2 at Dudy Noble Field.
MSU also pounded out 20 hits in its second contest of the season, a 16-6 win over Eastern Illinois.
The Bulldogs broke open a tight game with an eight-run sixth inning. That inning was MSU's second biggest outburst of the year, trailing only a 10-run second inning in a 13-12 win over Arizona.
An RBI single by Joseph Hunter started the scoring. Ed Easley drove in the second inning runs with a two-run double to right field. Samford plated an unearned run off MSU starter Eric Ebers to close the gap to 3-1 in the third inning.
MSU responded with two runs in the fifth inning before blowing the door open in the sixth inning. Brad Corley, Thomas Berkery and Hunter each had three hits for MSU. Berkery drove in three runs, while Hunter, Brad Jones, Easley and Michael Rutledge each drove in two runs. Jeffrey Rea, Rutledge and Easley had multiple hit performances for MSU.
Jeff Dills had two of Samford's four hits.
Sophomore Josh Johnson (3-0) worked the middle three innings and earned the win. The former Caledonia standout allowed three hits and no runs with five strikeouts and no walks. Jesse Carver, Jamie Gant and Justin Pigott each threw an inning of shutout relief. Eric Ebers started on the mound for MSU.
Scott Fowler (0-4) threw only the opening inning and took the loss. Bill Whitehead, Andrew Kerth and Matthew Thomas followed in relief.
MSU travels to Georgia this weekend to continue Southeastern Conference play. Weekend game times for the SEC's battle of the Bulldogs are 6 p.m. CT Friday, 3 p.m. CT Saturday and noon CT Sunday. The Friday game will be broadcast regionally by Comcast Sports Southeast. All three games may be heard on the MSU Baseball Radio Network.
MSU 13, Samford 1
Samford (9-22) 001 000 000 - 1 4 0MSU (22-8) 120 028 00x - 13 20 2WP-Josh Johnson (3-0). LP-Scott Fowler (0-4). 2B-Brad Corley (10), Thomas Berkery (9), Ed Easley (3). 3B-Brad Jones (4). T-2:38. A-1,111 (5,982 paid).
