The Mississippi State Bulldogs returned to the diamond Tuesday night as they defeated the Alcorn State Braves by a final of 6-2.
The Bulldogs will now travel to the plains of Auburn as they prepare for their third straight series against a Western Division foe.
The Dogs will rely on their pitching staff, which has carried them through many close games, and a defense that tops the conference in putouts and double-play categories.
The State pitching staff has combined for a league-best 244 strikeouts which also ranks second in the NCAA. Junior Chris Stratton leads the team and conference with 53 strikeouts. The Bulldog defense will also rely on the double-play ball to get out of jams as it has turned 33 on the year which leads the conference and ranks second in the country.
That stout defense will be key as Auburn’s offensive attack is fueled by small ball. Auburn leads the SEC in stolen bases and sacrifice hits, and head coach John Cohen said he has confidence in his pitchers and catcher Mitch Slauter to defend the Tigers’ running game.
“Most of our guys have done a great job controlling the running game, and that’s something coach (Butch) Thompson has done a remarkable job with our pitching staff,” Cohen said. “We’ve had a couple of days where Mitch has been inactive and been a little sore and getting his legs back underneath him is going to be important also.”
Auburn’s offense also boasts two of the top-four hitters in the conference in Ryan Tella and Creede Simpson, but first baseman Wes Rea is confident his team will be prepared.
“We’re going to get ready for those guys and put this one behind us,” Rea said. “We’ll get more competitive and get ready for this weekend.”
With the win on Tuesday night, the Dogs improved to 17-9 overall. MSU jumped out to an early 3-0 lead through the first three innings as Adam Frazier plated a couple of runs on Alcorn errors and Trey Porter drove in Braden Jones on a sacrifice fly. After a two-run Alcorn rally in the fourth, State extended its lead to 4-2 in the sixth on Sam Frost’s RBI double. In the eighth MSU added a pair of runs beginning with an RIB double by freshman Tyler Fullerton who later scored on a wild pitch.
Will Cox earned his second win for the Dogs as he threw three innings of shut-out ball while striking out six of the nine batters he faced.Cox, who struggled in his last outing against Southeastern Louisiana, was balanced on the mound and found confidence in getting another win.
“I was glad to get back out there and get back in the zone and get some ground balls,” Cox said. “It gave me a lot of confidence.”
The series opener against Auburn will start on Friday at 6 p.m., with Saturday’s matchup beginning at 3 p.m. and the series will wrap up on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs will return home Tuesday to take on Mississippi Valley State.