Friday, May 6
Starkville
7:00 PM
Mississippi State
25-21, 0
6
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8
#21 Florida
27-18, 0
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9
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Florida
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4
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Mississippi State
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11
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Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Dawgs Drop Series Opener Despite Late Rally
May 06, 2022 | Baseball
Game two of the series is set for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Dudy Noble Field
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State (25-21, 9-13 SEC) dropped the series opener to Florida (27-18, 9-13 SEC), 8-6, in a Friday night (May 6) matchup at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville.
Florida jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the fifth before State scratched across two in the run column in the bottom half of the inning. The Bulldogs then scored four unanswered runs after Florida scored again in the sixth to tighten the gap to two, but that was all the offense MSU could push across the rest of the matchup.
Brandon Smith (3-4) started on the mound and went 4.2 innings while allowing seven earned runs on six hits. Mikey Tepper and Jackson Fristoe both made relief appearances; Tepper went 2.1 innings only allowing one run on three hits, and Fristoe pitched two scoreless innings allowing just one walk and striking out four.
Five different Bulldogs recorded RBIs in the contest, three of which picked up multi-hit games. Luke Hancock, Logan Tanner and Lane Forsythe all went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Brad Cumbest went 2-for-4 and scored two runs for the Bulldogs, and RJ Yeager drove in two RBIs, one of them coming on a sac fly. Aaron Downs, Hunter Hines and Kellum Clark also picked up a base hit each.
Top First
Wyatt Langford led off with a single to right field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sterlin Thompson and Jud Fabian reached on back-to-back walks to load the bases, then BT Riopelle singled up the middle to score Langford and Thompson.
Florida 2, Mississippi State 0
Top Second
Langford hit a solo homer to center field. Thompson reached first on a walk and advanced to second on a single by Fabian. Riopelle hit a three-run home run to right field.
Florida 6, Mississippi State 0
Top Fifth
Riopelle led off with a single up the middle before advancing to second on Jac Caglianone's groundout to the pitcher. Kendrick Calilao singled to center field to score Riopelle.
Florida 7, Mississippi State 0
Bottom Fifth
Brad Cumbest and Kellum Clark hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third with no outs. Clark advanced to second after an attempt to pick off Cumbest at third. Lane Forsythe singled through the right side to score Cumbest and Clark advanced to third. RJ Yeager hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Clark.
Florida 7, Mississippi State 2
Top Sixth
Langford singled through the right side then advanced to second after Thompson drew a walk. Langford moved to third on a wild pitch. Riopelle doubled down the right field line to score Langford.
Florida 8, Mississippi State 2
Bottom Seventh
Aaron Downs pinch hit for Jess Davis, as he and Forsythe started the inning with back-to-back doubles. Yeager reached first safely after a fielding error by the third baseman to load the bases with no outs. Kamren James hit into a fielder's choice to score Downs, Forsythe advanced to third and Yeager was out at second on the force. James stole second. Hancock grounded out to shortstop but scored Forsythe and James advanced to third. Logan Tanner singled up the middle to score James.
Florida 8, Mississippi State 5
Bottom Eighth
Cumbest led off with a single to third and advanced to second on Clark's groundout. Downs and Forsythe drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Yeager grounded out to short but scored Cumbest.
Florida 8, Mississippi State 6
Game two of the series between Mississippi State and Florida is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 7, at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville.
Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the baseball program. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching 'HailStateBB' on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Florida jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the fifth before State scratched across two in the run column in the bottom half of the inning. The Bulldogs then scored four unanswered runs after Florida scored again in the sixth to tighten the gap to two, but that was all the offense MSU could push across the rest of the matchup.
Brandon Smith (3-4) started on the mound and went 4.2 innings while allowing seven earned runs on six hits. Mikey Tepper and Jackson Fristoe both made relief appearances; Tepper went 2.1 innings only allowing one run on three hits, and Fristoe pitched two scoreless innings allowing just one walk and striking out four.
Five different Bulldogs recorded RBIs in the contest, three of which picked up multi-hit games. Luke Hancock, Logan Tanner and Lane Forsythe all went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Brad Cumbest went 2-for-4 and scored two runs for the Bulldogs, and RJ Yeager drove in two RBIs, one of them coming on a sac fly. Aaron Downs, Hunter Hines and Kellum Clark also picked up a base hit each.
Scoring Summary
Top First
Wyatt Langford led off with a single to right field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sterlin Thompson and Jud Fabian reached on back-to-back walks to load the bases, then BT Riopelle singled up the middle to score Langford and Thompson.
Florida 2, Mississippi State 0
Top Second
Langford hit a solo homer to center field. Thompson reached first on a walk and advanced to second on a single by Fabian. Riopelle hit a three-run home run to right field.
Florida 6, Mississippi State 0
Top Fifth
Riopelle led off with a single up the middle before advancing to second on Jac Caglianone's groundout to the pitcher. Kendrick Calilao singled to center field to score Riopelle.
Florida 7, Mississippi State 0
Bottom Fifth
Brad Cumbest and Kellum Clark hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third with no outs. Clark advanced to second after an attempt to pick off Cumbest at third. Lane Forsythe singled through the right side to score Cumbest and Clark advanced to third. RJ Yeager hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Clark.
Florida 7, Mississippi State 2
Top Sixth
Langford singled through the right side then advanced to second after Thompson drew a walk. Langford moved to third on a wild pitch. Riopelle doubled down the right field line to score Langford.
Florida 8, Mississippi State 2
Bottom Seventh
Aaron Downs pinch hit for Jess Davis, as he and Forsythe started the inning with back-to-back doubles. Yeager reached first safely after a fielding error by the third baseman to load the bases with no outs. Kamren James hit into a fielder's choice to score Downs, Forsythe advanced to third and Yeager was out at second on the force. James stole second. Hancock grounded out to shortstop but scored Forsythe and James advanced to third. Logan Tanner singled up the middle to score James.
Florida 8, Mississippi State 5
Bottom Eighth
Cumbest led off with a single to third and advanced to second on Clark's groundout. Downs and Forsythe drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Yeager grounded out to short but scored Cumbest.
Florida 8, Mississippi State 6
ON DECK
Game two of the series between Mississippi State and Florida is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 7, at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville.
Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the baseball program. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching 'HailStateBB' on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brandon Sproat (6-4)
L: Smith, Brandon (3-4)
S: Ryan Slater (3)
Batting:
2B: BT Riopelle 1
HR: Wyatt Langford 1 ; BT Riopelle 1
RBI: Wyatt Langford 1 ; BT Riopelle 6 ; Kendrick Calilao 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wyatt Langford 3 ; Sterlin Thompson 2 ; Jud Fabian 1 ; BT Riopelle 2
SB: Sterlin Thompson 1
Batting:
RBI: Yeager, RJ 2 ; James, Kamren 1 ; Hancock, Luke 1 ; Tanner, Logan 1 ; Forsythe, Lane 1
SF: Yeager, RJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: James, Kamren 1 ; Cumbest, Brad 2 ; Clark, Kellum 1 ; Downs, Aaron 1 ; Forsythe, Lane 1
SB: James, Kamren 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
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RBI
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AB
5
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RBI
1
lf/cf
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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