No. 18 Mississippi State (21-8, 7-5) took two of three games in Fayetteville last weekend against the No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks (25-10, 8-4) to win its third Southeastern Conference series of the season, its second straight on the road.Friday
Sophomore right-hander Chad Crosswhite (3-1) made his first start for the Bulldogs Friday night in place of the injured Aaron Weatherford and worked a career-long six innings to secure an 11-9 win for MSU in the series opener.
The loss ended a five-game Arkansas winning streak.
Crosswhite allowed four runs over the first three innings but then settled down to pitch three straight without giving up a run. He finished the game with a career-high six strikeouts.
Junior catcher Edward Easley went 4-for-5 in the contest with four RBIs and hit his eighth home run of the season in the top of the third inning.
Arkansas starter Dallas Keuchel (3-2) took the loss for the Razorbacks.
Saturday
Left-hander Justin Pigott threw MSU’s first complete game of the season Saturday, besting the Razorbacks in a 2-1 thriller.
The win clinched the series victory for the Bulldogs and gave Pigott his third win of the year.
Pigott’s only run allowed came in the bottom of the sixth.
“I haven’t been pitching as well as I’ve wanted to this year,” said Pigott, “but today, thankfully, we got some breaks. We didn’t hit the ball real well, but we got enough.”
Arkansas starter Duke Welker (4-2) did not allow a Bulldog hit through six innings, but in the seventh frame junior first baseman Mitch Moreland doubled to left to lead off the inning.
Four batters later, Jeff Flagg hit a two-run double to score Moreland and Joseph McCaskill, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage that would eventually be the final.
“In close games, it sometimes comes down to one quality swing of the bat to win a ball game,” MSU head coach Ron Polk said. “Thankfully we got it today from Jeff Flagg.”
Sunday
MSU loaded the bases in both the first and the eighth innings against the Razorbacks Sunday, but was unable to take advantage, dropping the series finale 9-3.
Arkansas struck the MSU pitching staff with three runs in the bottom of the second inning, then tacked on another three in the fourth.
Insurance runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh sealed the Dawgs’ fate. Josh Johnson (2-2) took the loss for MSU.
Flagg went 3-for-4 with two doubles in the game to lead the Bulldog offense and was responsible for all three MSU runs.
Brandon Turner was the only other Bulldog with multiple hits, logging two singles in four at-bats.