Bulldogs Pound Out 17-3 Win In Twinbill Opener Against UT-Martin
May 25, 2016
Official Game One Statistics (PDF)
Official Game Two Statistics
Official Game Two Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State closed out its 2005 regular seasonnon-conference schedule in impressive fashion Tuesday, pounding out 29 hitsin a doubleheader sweep of Tennessee-Martin (12-40) at Dudy Noble Field.State (35-18) scored a season-high 17 runs in a 17-3 win in the opener andthen completed the sweep with an 8-3 decision. The wins vaulted MississippiState head coach Ron Polk to 10th place among college baseball's all-timewinningest coaches.
Bulldog freshman catcher/third baseman Ed Easley went 4-for-5 with a homerun in the opener and 6-for-10 with four RBI in the two-game set.
Polk, in his 32nd season as a college head coach, notched his 1,268th win inthe doubleheader nightcap to climb past former Miami coach Ron Fraser.
Easley and junior Brad Corley turned in season-high four-hit plateperformances and freshman Michael Rutledge totaled a season-best three RBIin the opening game win.
Freshman John Lalor (5-0) matched a career-best with six innings pitched,allowing three runs on five hits while striking out five. The Germantown,Tenn., native retired the first 12 batters he faced before UT-Martin brokeup the shutout with a run on three hits in the fifth.
Easley belted his third home run of the year to lead off a seven-run Bulldogscoring spree in the third inning. MSU sent 13 batters to the plate in theinning and drew four walks, two with the bases loaded. Easley also singledin a run in the inning, finishing a a 4-for-5 outing with a home run, adouble and two singles.
Corley singled in runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Rutledge had but onehit in the game, an eighth-inning double. But he drove in runs when struckby a pitch and drawing a walk with the bases loaded and added another on aninfield groundout.
MSU freshman Eli Dew, in his fifth at-bat of the season, cracked a two-runhome run to complete the game's scoring in the eighth inning.
Skyhawks' starter Casey Estill (1-9) took the loss for UTM, giving up sevenruns on four hits and four walks over 2-1/3 innings. Derek Link followedEstill to the hill in the third inning and gave up seven runs, while a thirdUTM pitcher, Ryan Hill, allowed three runs on five hits in three innings ofmound work.
Freshmen Trent Hill and Jeremiah Boling combined for three innings ofscoreless no-hit relief.
In the nightcap the Skyhawks parlayed a walk and singles by Hideaki Satoand Chris Rezabek into a 1-0 lead off MSU starter Brooks Dunn (5-2). ButDunn allowed just one more run and scattered six hits during his five-inningmound stint.
A pair of UTM errors, an RBI single by Easley and a run-scoring infieldgrounder by Thomas Berkery gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead in the third, and athree-run fifth inning gave the Bulldogs the cushion needed to seal the win.
Jeffrey Rea, Ed Easley, Brad Jones and Mitch Moreland had two hits apiece topace MSU's 12-hit attack. UTM's Blake Turner had three hits to lead theSkyhawks.
Josh Johnson and Jesse Carver pitched two innings each for State, combinedfor six strikeouts and allowing just one unearned run in the final fourframes.
The Bulldogs conclude their 2005 regular season schedule and a five-gamehomestand this weekend when MSU tests SEC Western Division-leading LSU in athree-game series at Dudy Noble Field. First pitch in Friday's series-openeris set for 6:30 p.m.