Berkery Collects Four Hits, Johnson Strikes Out Seven In 9-2 Bulldog Win Over LSU In SEC Tournament
May 25, 2005 | Baseball
Official Game Statistics (PDF)
HOOVER, Ala. -- Junior catcher Thomas Berkery went 4-for-4 with two RBI and starting senior pitcher Alan Johnson held power-hitting LSU to two runs as No. 7 seed Mississippi State (37-20) knocked off the second-seeded and ninth-ranked Tigers 9-2 in Wednesday's opening round game of the 2005 SEC Baseball Tournament. The win evened the MSU-LSU series at two wins apiece.
State next faces No. 6 seed South Carolina (38-19) Thursday in at 5 p.m. game at the Hoover Met. The Gamecocks upset third-seeded Tennessee 9-2 Wednesday afternoon. MSU and USC did not meet in the regular season.
The Bulldogs scored four runs in the first inning and piled up 17 hits, 16 of them singles, staking Johnson to a big early lead that was never threatened by LSU (38-19).
"We played very well today," said Bulldog skipper Ron Polk, whose teams have now won at least one game in each of the 23 SEC Tournaments in which he's coached. We swung the bat pretty well today and seemed to find real estate. "That first inning was very important. We were able to get A.J. some runs and A.J. shut 'em down."
Johnson scattered seven singles and walked five, working around a two-out walk and a single in the second and a pair of singles in the third.
In a replay of last Friday's series-opening pitching match at Dudy Noble Field, Johnson was matched with LSU senior lefty Lane Mestepey (6-8). Neither Mestepey nor Johnson figured into the pitching decision in that game, though both pitchers opened the game with four scoreless innings of mound duty.
MSU quickly rewrote the script for Wednesday's game. State opened the game with four straight singles, had two more players single and another reach on the fielding error during a four-run, six-hit start. Thomas Berkery, who reached base during all six plate appearances, singled in the game's first run with the bases loaded. Brad Jones, Joseph Hunter and Jeff Butts each added run-scoring hits in the frame, ending Mestepey's stay in the game after just two out, the shortest start of his LSU career.
Relief pitcher Jordan Faircloth finished the inning for LSU and pitched a scoreless second before giving up single runs in the third and fourth and two more in the fifth. Jeffrey Rea delivered a two-out single in the third and Hunter singled home a run in the fourth to extend the MSU lead to 6-0. Joseph Hunter walked and later scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Ed Easley and Thomas Berkery collected his second RBI of the game with a two-out single as MSU pulled away with two runs in the fifth. Berkery had the only extra-base hit among the game's 27 hits, a seventh-inning double, and also reached base with a walk and as a hit batsman.
LSU broke up the shutout and averted becoming a victim of the 10-run rule in the seventh inning. The Tigers loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a walk in the frame and Blake Gill came through with a two-out, two-strike single that plated a pair of runs. Senior right-handed relief man Saunders Ramsey replaced Johnson, worked out of the inning in the seventh and shut out the tigers over the last two frames. Ramsey allowed two hits, walked a batter and eclipsed the 100-strikeout mark for his career with two whiffs, including inning-ending strikeouts in the last two frames.
Eight of MSU's nine starters hit safely, with Rea, Easley, Jones, Hunter and Butts collecting two hits each. Seven Bulldogs drove in runs, including two-RBI performances by Berkery and Hunter.
Bruce Sprowl, Blake Gill and Derek Hebert had two singles each for LSU.
The MSU win pulled the Bulldogs even with LSU in all-time SEC Tournament wins. B oth teams have won 49 SEC tournament games, tops in the Southeastern Conference.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 9, LSU 2
MSU 401 120 100 -- 9-17-0LSU 000 000 200 -- 2- 9-1WP -- Alan Johnson (4-6). LP -- Lane Mestepey (6-8). T -- 3:03. ATT --
