Four Diamond Dogs Named To All-Tournament Team
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
CLEMSON, S.C. - Four Mississippi State players were named to the all-tournament team late Sunday night following the 2006 NCAA Clemson Regional held at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Representing the Bulldogs on the media-selected all-regional team were junior designated hitter Brian LaNinfa of Venice, Fla., junior catcher Joseph McCaskill from Jackson, Miss., sophomore outfielder Mitch Moreland from Amory, Miss., and sophomore pitcher Justin Pigott of Picayune, Miss.
LaNinfa went 7-for-16 (.438) with two doubles, two home runs and nine RBI, one shy of tying the MSU record for RBI in a regional tournament. McCaskill had three hits in four games, tops among catchers in the tournament, while Moreland went 7-for-15 (.467) with three doubles and three walks. Pigott, one of two pitchers on the all-tournament team, picked up a save in State's 5-4 win over UNC Asheville and the next day turned in an impressive eight-inning start in a 12-3 win over Elon, sending MSU to Sunday night's championship matchup against national No. 1 seed and tourney host Clemson. Pigott (7-1, 1.66) allowed four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts over 9-2/3 innings of pitching in two tournament games.
Clemson, ranked second nationally, erased a 5-4 Mississippi State lead with a three-run seventh inning burst Sunday night to post a tourney-clinching 8-6 win. The championship game was delayed two hours and 20 minutes by rain and ended Monday at approximately 12:30 a.m.
