Easley, Rice, Rutledge Deliver Home Runs As Bulldogs Power Past Louisiana Tech 11-1
* Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Sixth-ranked Mississippi State smacked three home runsand a season-best eight extra-base hits Tuesday afternoon as the Bulldogs(7-0) notched an 11-1 win over Louisiana Tech (5-8). State set season-highswith 11 runs and 15 hits, eight of them extra-base knocks.
Michael Rutledge gave MSU a lead in the second inning with a two-run blastoff LTU starter Matt Lacy (1-1), and teammate Edward Easley and Andy Ricefollowed with homers in the third to give State a 6-0 lead. Easley's homerun opened the third inning and Rice's blast came with two runners on board.
Mississippi State junior righthander Jon Crosby, making his first start ofthe season, held LTU hitless until giving up a two-out single to RyanHamilton in the fourth inning. The Germantown, Tenn., product scattered fivehits, allowing one run with a walk and five strikeouts in six innings.
Relief pitchers Mike Valentine and Mitch Moreland made their season debutsout of the bullpen. Valentine blanked Tech in the seventh and eighth inningsand Moreland struck out the three batters he faced in the ninth.
Lacy was charged with six runs on eight hits and struck out four. He wasfollowed to the hill in the fifth by Andrew Lassere, who gave up four runsin two innings of relief, and by Dylan Moseley, who gave up a run on twohits during his two-inning relief stint.
Tech collected four of its seven hits in the fifth inning but managed toscore just once. Albie Goulder opened the inning with a ground-rule doublethat one-hopped the left field fence. He later came home on a Mims Boycesacrifice fly to right. Goulder later singled to lead off the seventh inningbut was left stranded.
Easley doubled in State's seventh run in the sixth inning and the Bulldogsgot three more extra-base hits, including a pinch-hit triple by MattRichardson to lead off a four-run Mississippi State burst in the eighthinning.
Rice and Rutledge drove in three runs each, with Rutledge collecting acareer-high three hits in a 3-for-4 plate performance. The home runs wereseason-first blasts for Rutledge, Rice and for Easley, who closed out MSU'sscoring with a run-scoring double in the seventh inning.
MSU utilized 22 players in the game, with four Bulldogs - catcher BrooksLewis, outfielders Tyler Bratton and Jeff Flagg, and third baseman RyanWiser making their Mississippi State debuts.
MSU continues its 11-game season-opening homestand Wednesday afternoon witha 4 p.m. matchup against Louisiana-Monroe. Freshman righthander Matt Lea ofCollierville, Tenn., will make his collegiate debut as MSU's startingpitcher against the Indians. ULM (0-13) played a Tuesday night game atSouthern Miss.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 11, LOUISIANA TECH 1
LTU 000 010 000 - 1-7-0
MSU 024 001 40x - 11-15-0
WP --- Jon Crosby (1-0). LP -- Matt Lacy (1-1). HR - (MSU) Edward Easley(1), Andy Rice (1), Michael Rutledge (1). T --- 2:24. ATT --- 1,303 (5,860paid).