Diamond Dogs Storm Past Wildcats 9-2; Clinch Sixth Annual Cadence Bank Classic
* Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State spotted visiting Arizona an early2-0 lead and then reeled off nine of its own Saturday afternoon as thesixth-ranked Bulldogs (10-0) knocked off Arizona 9-2 at Dudy Noble Field ina game halted for nearly an hour by a thunderstorm. A season-largest crowdof 5,032 watched the Bulldogs clinch the Cadence Bank Classic series andextend their season-opening to 10 games. The 1995 MSU team also raced to a10-0 start and the celebrated 1985 MSU edition set the school record with 14straight year-opening wins.
State led 4-2 in the seventh inning before play was halted by the passingthunderstorm. The Bulldogs struck for five runs when the 56-minute raindelay ended, three of them coming on Andy Rice¹s bases-loaded double intothe left field gap. Junior second baseman Jeffrey Rea paced MSU¹s 13-hitattack with a 4-for-4 plate performance. Rea also delivered the go-aheadswing with a sacrifice fly.
Junior right-hander Josh Johnson (3-0) got off to a slow start, giving up arun in the first inning on singles by Colt Sedbrook and David Plante and adouble down the left field line by Konrad Schmidt. Ten of the first 17batters Johnson faced in the first three frames reached base, includingPlante and Jon Gaston with singles and T.J. Steele with a run-scoringfielder's choice groundout in the third that put Arizona up 2-0.
But Johnson allowed just two baserunners the remainder of his five-inningstay in the game and relief pitchers Justin Pigott and Mike Valentinecombined to blank the Wildcats over the final four frames. Valentine struckout two batters in two innings of scoreless relief and picked up his firstsave of the year.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases but failed to score in the first inning. ButRea opened the third inning with the second of his four singles and laterscored on Joseph Hunter's two-out single to left.
MSU plated three runs to take a 4-2 lead in the fourth when nine Bulldogbatters went to the plate. The first two runs came off UA starter PrestonGuilmet (1-2). Designated hitter Mitch Moreland opened the frame with asingle and scored on Jeff Butts' seventh career triple. Butts' triple chasedGuilmet from the game, but Rea greeted relief pitcher Mike Colla with asacrifice fly to score Butts. Edward Easley then drew a walk, Thomas Berkeryfollowed with an infield single, and Brad Jones plated Easley with a sharplyhit single to left.
Colla and a third Arizona relief pitcher Daniel Schlereth, kept the score at4-2 until the eighth inning. Seven of the first eight batters Schlerethfaced in the inning reached safely - Rea singled and Berkery, Jones andHunter drew back-to-back walks. Rice then lashed a bases-clearing double tothe left-centerfield wall and later scored on a Moreland single to cap MSU'ssecond inning of batting through the order and a season-biggest five-runburst.
Pigott fanned one and allowed two hits in his two-inning relief stint whileValentine, who pitched the final two frames, struck out two of the sixbatters he faced to get the save, his first of the year and the fifth by theBulldogs' bullpen.
Mississippi State closes out the weekend series and a season-opening 11-gamehomestand Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Sophomore right-hander John Lalor (2-0, 2.13ERA) will open on the mound for State while junior lefty Brad Mills (2-0,3.68 ERA) is the projected starter for Arizona.