Mississippi State opened its 2007 season without blemish, notching 55 hits and scoring 40 runs in a three-game sweep of the visiting Murray State Thoroughbreds.Friday
MSU won their fourth straight season opener Friday night, beating the Murray State Thoroughbreds 10-5 behind a 16-hit offensive performance and six strong innings from sophomore Aaron Weatherford.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the third, the Bulldogs scored three runs on three straight hits. Catcher Edward Easley singled to right field to lead off the inning, then advanced to second on a Mitch Moreland groundout. Two batters later, designated hitter Brian LaNinfa hit a ground-rule double down the right field line to score Easley.
Sophomore Jeff Flagg singled up the middle to score LaNinfa with the next at bat, then redshirt-freshman Brandon Turner doubled to right field to score Flagg.
“We started Flagg tonight to get another right-handed bat in the lineup,” MSU head coach Ron Polk said. “That’s the good thing about where we’re at right now is that we have options with what we can do with the lineup.”
The 3-2 advantage would give the Bulldogs the lead, and a two-run frame in the bottom of the fifth would eventually be enough to earn the victory. However, the team added two insurance runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.
Weatherford started off the game with three straight walks but found his groove quickly, striking out the next two batters and getting out of the inning having given up only 1 run.
“I was a little nervous,” Weatherford said. “But I knew that once I found it, my stuff was going to be good because it was good in the bullpen.”
Weatherford allowed only one additional run and struck out a career-high 11 batters in his six innings of work.
“Aaron’s a strikeout pitcher,” Polk said. “It gets hard when you walk the first three guys and then the umpire isn’t on your side anymore, but Aaron’s got great stuff and did real well out there.”
Senior designated hitter Brian LaNinfa paced the Bulldog offense with his four-hit performance. LaNinfa had two doubles and two triples and reached base all five times he stepped up to the plate. His 4 runs batted in were a game-high, and he also scored three times.
Easley, Turner and Flagg all also turned in multi-hit performances for the Bulldogs.
The Thoroughbreds threatened in the top of the eighth, scoring 3 runs off Bulldog reliever Jesse Carver.
Polk brought in new closer Chad Crosswhite for the final out of the eighth, and Crosswhite worked a perfect ninth to earn his first career save.
Saturday
Mississippi State continued its offensive dominance in game two of its season-opening series against Murray State, out-hitting the Thoroughbreds 22-4 en route to a 13-1 victory.
The Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning, two coming on Flagg’s first career home run.
Easley and third baseman Conner Powers also hit home runs in the game, the first three of the young season for the Bulldogs.
Seven Bulldogs finished with multi-hit games, but Easley paced the MSU offense with a 4-for-4 afternoon and two RBIs.
Murray State scored their lone run of the game in the fourth inning when sophomore infielder Tyler Owen ground out, scoring catcher Jason Payton from third.
The Bulldogs extended their 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the fourth with a 4-run outburst, then topped that with a 5-run clip in the bottom of the sixth.
“The fourth-inning was a big inning for us today,” Polk said. “We responded positively and were able to put some runs together.”
Junior left-hander Justin Pigott pitched seven innings for the Bulldogs and allowed only four hits, striking out four. The start was just Pigott’s sixth start for the Bulldogs after spending most of last season in the bullpen.
“It makes it easier to pitch when you have a team behind you hitting the way they did today,” Pigott said. “I didn’t do a good job of getting ahead of guys, plus I walked a batter, which is something I don’t like to do,”
Freshman Greg Houston and utility player Mitch Moreland each worked a scoreless frame to close out the game.
Freshman right-hander Brad Rowland earned the loss for the Thoroughbreds, their fourth in a row.
Sunday
Mississippi State earned its first come-from-behind victory of the young season Sunday by erasing a 7-run deficit to defeat the Murray State Thoroughbreds 17-9.
The win solidified a series sweep for the Bulldogs (3-0).
Murray State (0-5) took the lead with a Jason Payton RBI single in the top of the third frame. Payton and infielder Seth Hudson would later score on Chad Allen’s double to right center field, followed by Allen, who scored on a James Akin single.
Tyler Pittman’s 3-run home run in the top of the fourth gave Murray State its largest lead of the game.
From there, though, the Bulldogs chipped away at the ‘Breds’ lead, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth and three runs in both the fifth and sixth frames to tie the game.
The Thoroughbreds again took a 2-run lead in the top of the seventh, but it would not last.
Mississippi State rattled off seven hits and scored 8 runs in the bottom of the seventh frame, giving the Bulldogs a 6-run lead and eventually the win.
Easley had his second-straight four-hit day, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs. He had 10 hits in the series.
Jeffery Rea had a three-RBI outing, while Turner and Powers also finished the game with multiple hits.
Powers’ 2-run home run in the bottom of the sixth was his second in as many days, giving him the team lead.
Senior right-handed pitcher Josh Johnson went only three innings for the Dawgs and gave up five runs.
Josh Lalor and Ricky Bowen worked the middle innings for the Bulldogs before Crosswhite came in for the final three outs.
“It was a solid weekend offensively for us because we swung the bat real well and never gave up in the count,” Polk said. “The most impressive thing to me was that we only committed only one error the entire series. That is a positive season-opening weekend for us.