Mississippi State
32-14-1, 0
Missouri
24-24, 0
No. 4 Bulldogs Clinch Seventh SEC Series with Win Against Missouri
May 07, 2016 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 4 Mississippi State erased a late two-run deficit to take down Missouri 4-2 in the middle game of a Southeastern Conference baseball series Friday night at Dudy Noble Field.
On the heels of an 8-2 victory Thursday night, MSU clinched its seventh conference series win in eight weekends.The Bulldogs will be looking for their first sweep of the season when the teams meet at 4 p.m. in the series finale.
MSU improved to 32-14-1 overall and 14-9 in league play, while Missouri fell to 24-24 and 7-16. The Bulldogs moved within one game of Western Division leader Texas A&M in the division race, while now sitting 2.5 games back in the overall standings.
“The pitching was excellent for both teams,” MSU head coach John Cohen said. “We really had good at-bats all night. Fortunately, we were able to put some things together at the end.”
The Bulldogs beat the Tigers for a second straight night with outstanding pitching.
After Dakota Hudson pitched into the ninth inning of Thursday's win, Austin Sexton took the ball Friday and did the same. After a leadoff batter reached as a hit batsman, the Bulldogs turned to Reid Humphreys, who got a pair of outs before Daniel Brown came in to close out the contest.
Missouri built a 2-0 lead on a Jake Ring double in the third inning.
It would be a rare blemish for Sexton (5-2), who worked eight innings, allowing four hits and three runs (all earned), with eight strikeouts and a walk. Humphreys allowed a pair of hits but did get two outs before Brown got a ground ball out with two runners on base to nail down his second save.
The Bulldogs began the rally with a single score in the sixth inning thanks in part to two Missouri errors. The Maroon and White pulled even on an RBI-double by Nathaniel Lowe.
In the eighth inning, the Bulldogs loaded the bases on a Jacob Robson single, Cody Brown bunt single and Elih Marrero walk. The Bulldogs grabbed the lead on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Gridley and also got a critical insurance score when John Holland followed with a sacrifice fly.
Missouri ace Tanner Houck (4-5) pitched 7.1 innings, allowing eight hits and four runs (two earned), with five strikeouts and two walks.
Lowe and Collins each had two hits for the Bulldogs, who finished with eight hits.
The series concludes with a 4 p.m. start Saturday. That contest will be available nationally on SEC Network +.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sexton, Austin (5-2)
L: Tanner Houck (4-5)
S: Brown, Daniel (2)
Batting:
2B: Jake Ring 1
RBI: Jake Ring 2 ; Brian Sharp 1
SH: Ryan Howard 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Connor Brumfield 1 ; Brett Bond 1 ; Kirby McGuire 1
SB: Zach Lavy 1
HBP: Brett Bond 1
Batting:
2B: Lowe, Nathaniel 1
RBI: Lowe, Nathaniel 1 ; Gridley, Ryan 1 ; Holland, John 1
SF: Gridley, Ryan 1 ; Holland, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mangum, Jake 1 ; Collins, Gavin 1 ; Robson, Jacob 1 ; Brown, Cody 1
SB: Robson, Jacob 1
