No. 17 State Secures Series With Shutout At South Carolina

Saturday, April 18

Columbia, S.C.

12 p.m.

Mississippi State

29-10, 9-8

South Carolina

19-21, 5-12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Mississippi State	0	0	0	5	0	1	0	3	0	9	14	0
South Carolina	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1

Photo by: Keith Warren

No. 17 State Secures Series With Shutout At South Carolina

April 18, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. - No. 17 Mississippi State rode a dominant pitching performance from Duke Stone and a decisive fourth-inning outburst to a 9-0 victory over South Carolina on Saturday at Founders Park, clinching the SEC road series for the Diamond Dawgs.

Mississippi State improved to 29-10 overall and 9-8 in league play, while South Carolina dropped to 19-21 and 5-12 in the SEC.

Stone set the tone for MSU with six scoreless innings, allowing five hits while striking out a career-high 12 and walking three. The right-hander improved to 6-1 and repeatedly escaped trouble, stranding runners in scoring position while keeping the Gamecocks off the board.

The Bulldogs broke open a scoreless game in the fourth after Ace Reese reached on an error to begin the inning. Noah Sullivan followed with a single before Gehrig Frei drove in the first run with a groundout. Blake Bevis then delivered the big blow, launching a three-run homer to left-center that scored Sullivan and Jacob Parker for a 4-0 lead. Later in the inning, Bryce Chance added an RBI single to cap a five-run surge.

State added another run in the sixth when Ryder Woodson lined an RBI single to center, scoring Bevis after he had opened the inning with a single and advanced on a balk.

The Diamond Dawgs put the game away in the eighth. Chance doubled to left before Reese crushed a two-run homer to right-center. Later in the inning, Parker singled home Sullivan to make it 9-0.

Bevis paced Mississippi State's 14-hit attack by going 3 for 4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Reese finished with two runs and two RBIs, while Sullivan collected two hits and scored twice. Kevin Milewski doubled twice and Chance doubled and singled as MSU continued its balanced offensive showing.

Out of the bullpen, Chris Billingsley Jr. and Dane Burns combined to finish the shutout. Burns struck out five over the final two innings as Mississippi State pitchers piled up 18 strikeouts on the afternoon.

South Carolina managed seven hits but left 11 runners on base and never mounted a serious threat against the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State will look to complete the sweep in Sunday's series finale at 12:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. The Diamond Dawgs will send sophomore left-hander Charlie Foster (0-2, 5.55 ERA) to the bump while the Gamcocks go with junior southpaw Alex Valentin (1-2, 3.73 ERA).

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