State Stays Alive With 10-5 Win Over Missouri
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STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Freshman Jamie Gant allowed one run on five hits over a career-best six and one-thirds innings as the top-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs knocked off the Missouri Tigers 10-5 to earn a spot in Sunday's championship game against second-seeded North Carolina.
Gant's stellar performance moved his record to 6-1 as he picked up his third victory of the postseason. Andy Shipman took the loss to drop his mark to 9-4 after allowing four earned runs on seven hits over one and two-thirds innings of work.
Both teams got on the board early with an RBI single by Matthew Brinson. Brinson scored the second run of the frame on a Brad Corley hit that was misplayed by the Tiger leftfielder.
The Tigers (36-22) answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning when Ryan Rallo launched a three run blast leftfield wall off Bulldog starter Jeff Lacher.
The Bulldogs (42-19-1) found themselves down 4-2 entering the fourth inning when they strung together four singles scoring two runs tying the game at four.
The Tigers held a 5-4 lead until the Bulldogs came to bat in the sixth. Jeff Butts led it off with a single and advanced to second on an error. Maniscalco brought in Butts with a single and scored himself on Steve Gendron's single to left field. Brinson scored Jon Mungle on a groundout and Brad Corley singled through the right side to plate Gendron. State scored three more in the next inning to extend the lead to 8-5.
"Missouri is a good ballclub," said MSU head coach Ron Polk. "This was a game that could have gone either way until the sixth inning when we broke it open."
Butts would again lead off the inning with a single. Maniscalco tripled off the wall in right center field scoring Butts. The Diamond Dawgs chased Shipman from the game after just one and two-thirds innings. But hisreplacement Parker would fare no better when Mungle grounded out to score Maniscalco.
State and North Carolina meet in the championship game Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
"We won't feel sorry about the number of pitcher's we're going to throw because they will have to do the same thing," said Polk. "We definitely have a chance."