Jones Homers Twice As Bulldogs Power Past Memphis 12-8
April 18, 2006 | Baseball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - First baseman Brad Jones belted a pair of home runs and drove in a career-high six runs Tuesday night as No. 15 Mississippi State (27-9) powered past Memphis (21-17) 12-8 before 2,063 fans at Nat Buring Field.
Jones drove in his first run with an infield groundout as State broke up a 1-1 contest with a three-run burst in the sixth inning. He then homered in his last two plate appearances. His two-run shot gave the Bulldogs an 8-3 lead in the eighth inning. After Memphis scored five times to pull even at 8-8 in the eighth, Jones uncorked his second round-tripper, a three-run blast that lifted State to its fifth straight win over the Tigers.
Edward Easley drew a lead-off walk in the ninth and later scored the go-ahead run on Brian LaNinfa's pinch-hit, two-out single.
Sophomore Mitch Moreland struck out three of the five batters he faced and allowed one hit in 1-1/3 innings of relief work to notch the win, the first of his career. Matt Yokley (1-2), the third of four Memphis pitchers in the game, took the loss. He was charged with the first two Bulldog runs that crossed the plate in the ninth.
The game featured a pitching duel over the first five innings, with both the Bulldogs and the Tigers plating an unearned run in the third inning. MSU starter Matt Lea, a native of Memphis, worked the first 2-1/3 inning before leaving the game with shoulder pain in the third. He was replaced by Brett Cleveland, who allowed but three Tigers hits before running into problems in the eighth. One of those hits was a two-out home run by K.K. Chalmers that helped Memphis pull within a run at 4-3 in the sixth inning. After pitching a scoreless seventh, Cleveland gave up five hits, including a run-scoring double by Bill Moss and two-run blasts by Kyle Norrid and Joseph Lieberman. Liberman's home run, his ninth of the year, tied the score at 8-8.
Moreland replaced Cleveland, ending the inning with a groundout and in the ninth, after giving up a bad-hop lead-off single, struck out the next three UM batters to earn his first career win.
Jeff Butts and Matt Richardson had back-to-back run-scoring hits as MSU took a 4-1 lead with a three-run sixth. And in the seventh, after Andy Rice drew a one-out walk, Joseph McCaskill followed with his second home run of the year, a massive blast that quickly sailed over the left field fence at Nat Buring Field.
Eight of MSU's nine starters in the batting order hit safely, including senior Brooks Tinsley, who is subbing for starting senior shortstop Thomas Berkery. Berkery, the SEC's leading hitter (.411), is missing the midweek series at Memphis following the weekend death of a family member in Florida. Tinsley reached on a fielder's choice and scored the game's first run on an Edward Easley single in the third inning. Tinlsey also had a hand in three double plays turned in the first four innings.
Jones' paced State's 13-hit attack with three hits while designated hitter Joseph McCaskill and left fielder Jeff Butts had two hits each.
Chalmers and Cory Barton had two hits each as eight of UM's nine starters combined for 10 hits, six of those coming in the last two innings.
Mississippi State and Memphis conclude their two-game set Wednesday with a 7:05 p.m. game at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis. Freshman Chad Crosswhite (0-0, 1.77) is due to make his debut as a starter for MSU while lefty Brach Davis (0-0, 9.00) will open on the mound for the Tigers. The game will be televised locally in Memphis on WKNO.
