Tigers Score Five Late To Nip State 8-6, End Bulldogs' 18-Game Win Streak
March 25, 2006 | Baseball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
BATON ROUGE, La. - Top-ranked Mississippi State had not allowed fiveruns in its first 18 games. Playing on the road in game 19, the Bulldogsyielded five runs in the eighth inning and dropped an 8-6 decision toNo. 13 LSU (19-6, 2-3 SEC) at Alex Box Stadium. The loss ended animpressive school-record 18-game win streak for the Bulldogs (18-1, 3-1SEC).
LSU did all of its scoring in two innings, plating three runs in thefifth inning and overcoming a 6-3 Mississippi State lead with theirfive-run eighth-inning burst.
Right-fielder Quinn Stewart ignited the rally, delivering a toweringtwo-run blast off MSU relief pitcher Mike Valentine. The next threeTiger batters singled, the third a run-scoring liner by StevenWaguespack off relief ace Brett Cleveland that tied the score at 6-6.Will Harris then doubled past a diving Joseph Hunter in center fieldwith two outs in the inning to drive in the winning runs..
"You have to give LSU credit. They swung the bats very well today andgot key hits when they needed them, especially late in the game," saidMSU head coach Ron Polk. "Stewart's home run was the big blow thatgot them back in the game."
The Bulldogs and the Tigers played four scoreless innings at State'sJosh Johnson and LSU's Clay Dirks dueled on near-even terms.
State broke through with a run it the fifth. Jeff Butts reached on abunt single, stole second and scored on the second of three hits in thegame by Edward Easley, a double into the left field corner. LSU answeredwith a three-run burst powered by three doubles. Waguespack, Will Harrisand Bruce Sprowl delivered the run-scoring two-base hits.
MSU tied the score at 3-3 in the sixth on Michael Rutledge's two-rundouble to left. State added two more runs off Dirks in the seventh whenJeffrey Rea blooped a single past the LSU shortstop and EdwardEasley's double to center field was misplayed, allowing Rea toscore. Thomas Berkery, who extended his career-best hitting streak to 16games with a third-inning double, drove in MSU's fifth run with asacrifice fly. Brian LaNinfa, making his first career start at firstbase in place of an injured starter Brad Jones, opened the MSU eighthinning with a double that kicked around in the right field corner. Helater raced home when Michael Rutledge bounced a single past shortstopoff LSU relief pitcher Darryl Shaffer.
Shaffer finished up the inning and became the pitcher of record for theTigers after LSU's five-run eruption. The Tigers totaled six of theirgame-leading 13 hits in the eighth inning. Chase Dardar replaced Shafferin the ninth, retiring the three Bulldog batters he faced to earn hissecond save of the year.
Johnson gave up three runs on seven hits with no walks and sevenstrikeouts over 6-1/3 innings. It marked the 19th time State'sstarting pitcher has worked at least five innings. Valentine (0-1) tookthe loss, allowing four runs on as many hits. Relief man Brett Clevelandgot the final two outs in the eighth inning but gave up a run on twohits.
Harris drove in three runs and was among five LSU players to record twohits in the game.
Easley collected three hits, two of them doubles, while Rutledgedoubled and drove in three runs.
The teams conclude their three-game SEC weekend series at Alex BoxStadium with a 1 p.m. contest Sunday.
