Rookie Mitch Moreland Delivers Game-Winner As MSU Nips USM 5-4
April 26, 2005 | Baseball
Official Game Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mitch Moreland's RBI single lifted Mississippi Statepast Southern Miss 5-4 in college baseball action Tuesday night.
Moreland, a true freshman from Amory, had his first game-winning RBI withthe Bulldogs. Moreland's hard shot to right field scored Brian LaNinfa withthe eventual game-winning run.
"Right now, every game is big," Moreland said. "I am just glad that I amgetting an opportunity to contribute."
Moreland moved into the MSU lineup after an injury to outfielder JosephHunter and has now appeared in six games, collecting seven hits in 20at-bats. Against Southern Miss, Moreland had his second multiple hit gameand first multiple RBI game.
Southern Miss (28-12) broke on top 4-1 on a three-run home run by MarcMaddox in the fifth inning. For the former Oak Grove standout, it was his11th home run of the year.
MSU (28-11) battled back with a single run in the fifth inning and two runsin the sixth inning.
Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer went to his bullpen in the sixth inning.While starter Matt Caire was being replaced by Tyler Perrett, a campus-widepower outage left Dudy Noble Field in darkness.
After an 18-minute delay, power was restored and play resumed with theBulldogs plating two runs. Reliever Tyler Perrett was touched for RBIsingles by Bunky Kateon and Moreland. Cole Basinger got a double play ballto help USM escape without further damage.
"We had some timely hits," MSU coach Ron Polk said. "We didn't get a lot ofthose this weekend. Then we had some really big ones tonight. John (Lalor)and Mike (Valentine) pitched well. We did the things we needed to do to wina big game."
Lalor worked a career-high six innings for the Bulldogs. The true freshmanleft-hander allowed eight hits and four runs (all earned). Lalor struck outfour and walked none. Mike Valentine (3-0) threw three innings of shutoutrelief. Valentine allowed one hit with five strikeouts and two walks.
For Southern Miss. Basinger (3-2) was pulled in the eighth inning andsuffered the loss. Caire pitched 5 1/3 innings as the starter. Caire allowedsix hits and four runs (all earned). He struck out seven ande walked one.Daniel Best worked Southern Miss out of the eighth inning.
"We played well enough to win," Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer said. "Theerror set up the game-winning run in the eighth inning. Matt pitched well.We had some chances (against Lalor) but couldn't get enough done."
Each team finished with nine hits. Maddox, Brad Willcutt and Jody Blountjoined Moreland as the only multiple hitters in the contest.
MSU and Southern Miss conclude their two-game midweek series at 6:30 p.m.Wednesday. That contest will mark the 100th meeting in the in-state rivalry.The Bulldogs lead the all-time series, 69-30.
