On the opening weekend of Ron Polk’s 26th season as head coach of Bulldog baseball, the legendary coach had plenty to be happy about.
His team went 2-0 on the weekend, scoring 19 runs and allowing only seven. He won his 1,000th game in maroon and white Friday night, receiving a cake at home plate.
On Saturday, he honored one of his former players, Bobby Thigpen, with a spot on the outfield wall. Then on Sunday, due to the rainy Starkville skyline, he got a well-deserved day off.
Friday
Friday night’s series-opening contest against the Eastern Illinois Panthers was a hard fought contest for the 17th ranked Bulldogs.
In the opening inning, back-to-back errors by freshmen Bunky Kateon and Michael Rutledge got MSU pitcher Alan Johnson in an early jam.
However, the senior was able to get Ryan Campbell to ground out and Keiji Szalo to hit into a double play with right fielder Brad Corley throwing out Mark Chagnon at the plate to end the inning.
After that early scare, Johnson scattered five hits over the next 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run and striking out five.
“Getting out of the first inning was big,” Johnson said. “If they score there, they have the momentum. It could be a different game.”
Kateon had the game’s first score in the second by reaching on a fielder’s choice to score Brad Jones from third.
The Bulldogs would retain a 1-0 lead until two innings later when Joseph Hunter groundout to score Corley, followed immediately by Kateon’s sac fly which scored Jones, giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
Johnson surrendered the Panthers’ lone run in the top of the sixth on Erik Huber’s RBI single.
With his pitch count rising, Johnson was chased in favor of Mike Valentine who closed out the inning and pitched the next two without giving up a hit. Saunders Ramsey came in for the final inning, and after walking a batter and allowing a base hit, he induced Blake Meyer into a groundout to end the game, leaving the Panthers with the tying run on first base, and Ramsey with his first save of the year.
After the game Polk was pleased to get the opening day victory and the 1,000 win mark behind him.
“It’s just a number,” Polk said. “All 1,000 wins means is that you haven’t died yet, and you’ve coached a long time.”
Saturday
In the antithesis to Friday night’s 3-1 pitcher’s contest, Saturday’s game was clearly about offense. The Bulldogs scored a season high 16 runs, pounding the Panthers 16-6 and amassing 20 hits as a team.
After allowing two straight singles to open the game, Bulldog starter Josh Johnson allowed the Panthers to take an early 2-0 lead on a Kevin Carkeek single.
The Bulldog offense was stifled in the bottom of the first, and after a Szalo sac fly in the top of the second, they were staring at a 3-0 deficit.
The team rallied however, coming out in the bottom of the second and erupting for a six-hit, seven-run frame, taking a 7-3 lead that they would not relinquish.
Eastern Illinois returned fire with two runs in the top of the third on a Chagnon double, but that would be the closest the Panthers would get for the rest of the contest.
The Bulldogs added a run in the fourth when Brad Jones scored on a Kenny Firlit wild pitch, and then exploded for a six-run inning in the fifth, and added solo runs in the sixth and eighth to close out the scoring.
Jeffrey Rea paced the Bulldogs with five hits and three RBI, both career highs. Jeff Butts also pitched in three RBI on three hits to highlight a 3-4 day at the plate. Six Bulldog players logged multi-hit days at the plate, while all nine starters attained a base hit or RBI.
“We swung the bats pretty well today,” said Polk. “We fell behind early, mainly because we walked a lot of hitters. But our offense won the game for us today.”
The Bulldogs will resume their season Tuesday with a home contest against Mississippi Valley State, beginning at 3 p.m. No makeup date for Sunday’s rained-out series finale has been announced.