No. 18 UM Strikes Early, Pounds Out 13-11 Series-Clinching Win Over State
May 20, 2006 | Baseball
* Official Statistics
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - No. 18 Mississippi built up a 12-5 lead and then held off a late Mississippi State challenge to notch a series-clinching 13-11 win Saturday afternoon before 5,709 fans at Dudy Noble Field. It was the regular season finale for the Rebels (36-20, 17-13 SEC), who advance to the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., and for the Bulldogs (35-21, 12-17 SEC), who missed qualifying for the event by a half-game.
Catcher Justin Brashear went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs while Justin Henry, Chris Coghlan and Alex Presley had three hits apiece as the Rebels pounded out 20 hits, the most allowed by the Mississippi State pitching staff this year.
State plated four runs in the seventh, added single tallies in the eighth and ninth and had the tying run at the plate when relief pitcher Cody Satterwhite, the last of three Rebels hurlers in the game, retired Mitch Moreland on a fly ball to end the game and earn his first career save.
Freshman Lance Lynn (5-3) picked up the win, allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out six. Garrett White worked 2-1/3 innings of middle relief and was charged with five runs (four earned) on eight hits.
MSU starter Josh Johnson (4-4) gave up four runs on four hits with a walk in the opening frame. Zack Cozart singled in one run and Logan Power's two-out double down the left field line got UM off to a fast start. Catcher Justin Brashear singled in another run in the first, added a two-run, two-out home run in the third that was followed by a solo shot by Mark Wright. Wright, hitless in his first two games of the series, doubled in two more runs during UM's four-run fifth inning.
The Bulldogs had an opportunity to overcome the early deficit when five of the first six Bulldogs reached base against Lynn. Brian LaNinfa singled in two runs and the next two Bulldog batters reached when Lynn hit one batter and walked another. But Lynn retired the next two batters on a strikeout and a fly out to survive the inning and ended the second inning leaving with Bulldog base-runners at second and third. In the third inning Andy Rice and Joseph McCaskill delivered two-out singles and Jeff Butts followed with his seventh home run of the year to make it a 7-5 game.
UM rebuilt its lead with a run in the fourth and four more in the fifth.
Lynn left the game after walking the lead-off batter in the sixth with a 12-5 lead. Garrett White followed Lynn and worked into and out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth. State scored four times in the seventh, two on a two-out single by Edward Easley, added another run in the eighth on back-to-back doubled by Joseph Hunter and Matt Richardson, and got a lead-off home run from Jeffrey Rea in the ninth.
Easley went 3-for-4 to lead MSU's 16-hit attack, while Thomas Berkery, Hunter, Richardson, Joseph McCaskill and Butts had two hits each. Berkery extended his hitting streak to 14 games and captured the SEC regular season batting title with a .393 batting average. Berkery had hits in 49 of his 54 games. LaNinfa also closed out the regular season with an 11-game hitting streak.
Johnson was charged with seven runs on seven hits with one walk and one strikeouts before leaving the game two outs into the third inning. Freshman Chad Crosswhite allowed five runs (four earned on seven hits in 1-1/3 innings or relief. Aaron Weatherford worked two innings of scoreless relief, Mitch Moreland allowed a run on three hits in the seventh, and Jesse Carver retired six of the seven batters he faced over the final two frames.
The Bulldogs now must wait until Monday, May 29 to see if their season will continue with an at-large selection to the 64-team field of the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA announces its postseason tournament field in a nationally-televised (ESPN) selection show that begins at 11:30 a.m. CDT.
