Berkery, Jones Power State To Season-Opening 9-3 Win Over Marist
* Official Statistics
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Senior co-captains Thomas Berkery and Brad Jones combined for six hits and each delivered a home run Friday afternoon to lead the 11th-ranked Bulldogs to a 9-3 win over Marist. The game was the season-opener for both teams in a three-game series that continues Saturday at Noon. Former Bulldog and Major League pitcher Jay Powell threw out the ceremonial first pitch in the game which also opened State's 40th season at its current Dudy Noble Field site.
Berkery went 4-for-5 and drove in two runs, the game's first on a first-inning single and another with a solo blast in the fourth inning. Jones, a teammate of Berkery at Sarasota (Fla.) High School, followed Berkery's RBI single in the first with a two-run shot to right that staked MSU starter Brooks Dunn (1-0) to a 3-0 lead.
Dunn retired the first 11 batters he faced before losing his no-hit shutout on Adam Pernsacilici's two-out solo home run in the fourth. Dunn gave up three runs on five hits with five strikeouts over six innings.
Redshirt freshman Chad Crosswhite followed Dunn on the hill in the seventh, striking out three of the six batters he faced in two innings of scoreless no-hit relief. Sophomore Trent Hill, another right-hander, retired the Red Foxes in order in the ninth to close the game.
Berkery, Jones and junior designated hitter Joseph McCaskill drove in two runs each while 2005 SEC Tournament MVP Jeff Butts had a pair of hits and registered a pair of stolen bases. The Bulldogs out-hit Marist 14-5.
Senior lefty Jonathan Smith (0-1) took the loss. He was charged with seven runs on seven hits before leaving the game in the third inning. Tom Close, the third of four Marist pitchers in the game, scattered four hits and struck out four in three innings of scoreless relief.
Marist, the defending Metro Atlantic Athletuic Conference champions, after falling behind 7-0 in the third inning, struck for a run in the fourth on Pernasilici's home run and added two more during a three-hit fifth inning burst punctuated by Travis Musolf's two-run double to center field.
The teams continue their first-ever series Saturday at noon and conclude the weekend set Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Junior righty Josh Johnson will start for the Bulldogs while Marist is expected to counter with junior righty Bobby Hastry.