Doolittle Goes The Distance In Two-Hit Shutout At Georgia
April 16, 2005 | Baseball
ATHENS, Ga. -- Senior right-hander Todd Doolittle fired a two-hit shutout Saturday afternoon as No. 21 Mississippi State (23-9, 7-6) blanked Georgia 6-0 to even their weekend series at Foley Field. The series concludes Sunday with a Noon (CDT) game at Foley Field. Sophomore righty Jon Crosby (5-1, 2.45) is scheduled to make his fifth start of the season for MSU.
It was a career-longest nine-inning pitching performance for the Meridian, Miss., native, who gave up two singles, walked a pair, matched his career-best with eight strikeouts and faced just three batters over the minimum.
"Todd was very good today and showed a lot of toughness in bouncing back from a rough outing last weekend against a fine Auburn club," said Bulldog coach Ron Polk. "He had eight strikeouts today and we played pretty good defense behind him."
Junior outfielder Ryan Fesmire from Franklin, Tenn., was the offensive star for the Bulldogs. Fesmire replaced Joseph Hunter in the Bulldog batting order in the second inning when the MSU center fielder was struck by a pitch by UG starter Sean Ruthven. In his third plate appearance of the game Fesmire drilled a two-out single that plated two runs that ignited a four-run Bulldog burst in the fifth inning. They were the first career runs batted in for Fesmire.Brad Jones and Thomas Berkery followed Fesmire's single with back-to-back doubles, with Berkery's two-bagger plating two runs for a 4-0 lead.
Jeff Butts, Brad Jones, Thomas Berkery and Bunky Kateon had two hits each as MSU out-hit Georgia 12-2. Derek Smith and Jason Jacobs had singled for UG. The shutout was the third by MSU pitching this year and marked the first time Georgia has been held scoreless this year. It also marked the first time Georgia had been held to two hits since former MSU standout and current Detroit Tiger pitcher Matt Ginter two-hit Georgia in 1999.
MSU added two more runs in the ninth with a single by Brad Corley and four straight walks. Corley scored from third on a wild pitch and Jonescame home when Ed Easley drew a bases-loaded walk.
Ruthven (1-4) gave up four runs (all earned) on nine hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 4-2/3 innings. Rip Warren, Bo Lanier and Johnny Dobbs also pitched for Georgia.
The Bulldogs' starting center fielder, Joseph Hunter, left the game in the first inning when he was struck on the hand by a pitch from Ruthven. Hunter sustained a fracture of his right thumb on the play and will miss Sunday's series finale. Hunter's status will be re-evaluated Monday in Starkville.
MSU 6, GEORGIA 0
MSU 000 040 002 --- 6 12 1UG 000 000 000 --- 0 2 0WP --- Todd Doolittle (4-3). LP ---- Sean Ruthven (1-4). T --- 2:40. ATT --- 3,054.
