Mississippi State’s baseball team earned a weekend split at Louisiana State University and won one out of two in the midweek by beating Tennessee Martin and losing to Mississippi. Paul Maholm threw his third consecutive complete game and the Bulldog batters assembled a season-high 19 hits to beat LSU on Friday. Center fielder Casey Long achieved perfection at the plate going 4 for 4, and first baseman Matthew Brinson added four hits and six RBI to the team totals.
The Bulldogs mounted an offense in the third to break an early 1-1 tie. After Long singled and stole second base, shortstop Matthew Maniscalco and second baseman Chad Henry walked to load the bases.
Brinson followed with a single to left field that scored Long and kept the bases stacked for catcher Jason Burkley. Burkley increased the Bulldog lead to two runs with a single up the middle. LSU;s starting pitcher, Bo Pettit, allowed two more runs in the inning giving MSU a 5-1 lead.
The Tigers faired their best against Maholm in the bottom half of the inning by scoring two runs, but Maholm held them scoreless the next five innings and allowed one run in the ninth. State pulled away in the late innings scoring four in the eighth and five in the ninth and took game one 15-4.
LSU shortstop Aaron Hill helped his team even the series on Saturday with a four-hit, four-RBI performance. The four runs Hill drove in made the difference as the Tigers took game two 7-3. The Bulldogs used five pitchers in the loss while LSU starter Lane Mestepey claimed his fifth win of the season.
MSU trailed by a single run late in the game, but LSU hitters provided three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to widen the margin to four. With two outs and runners on first and second, Hill delivered a run-scoring single to left-center.
Tiger third baseman Wally Pontiff brought home two more runs with a double down the rightfield line.
LSU relief pitcher Jake Tompkins forced a double play to end the game and picked up the save.
The Bulldogs steadily rode the comeback trail on Tuesday erasing a five-run UT Martin lead. MSU reliever Chris Young shut out Martin after coming in for starter Joey Collums in the second inning, and the Bulldog batters scored six unanswered in the meantime.
MSU tied the game at five apiece in the bottom of the seventh when Brinson hit a two-run home run to right center. In the bottom of the ninth, Maniscalco walked and stole second. An error put runners at the corners for State with one out, and a second error scored Maniscalco giving the Bulldogs a 6-5 victory. The Bulldogs came up short when they traveled to Jackson, Wednesday to play rival Mississippi in the Mayor;s Trophy Game.
The Rebels struck first scoring four runs in the second inning. Ole Miss left fielder Drew Rogers led off the inning with a single and scored on a double by designated hitter John Christian. After a bunt went for a hit, an MSU error allowed a run to score and put runners on second and third for the Rebels. A sacrifice fly scored a run, and right fielder Seth Smith came up with an RBI double that gave Ole Miss a 4-0 lead.
The Rebels added two runs in the fourth, but MSU responded, scoring three the same inning. Long opened the bottom of the fourth with a single, and third baseman Brent Lewis did the same putting runners on first and third. Left fielder Michael Brown ripped a single that scored Long, and runners advanced to second and third on a groundout. Maniscalco delivered a two-RBI double to right-center to pull the Bulldogs within two.
They would not come any closer, however, as Christian hit a two-run long ball that cleared the left field wall and gave the Rebels an 8-4 lead, which was the game;s final score.
The Bulldogs return to Dudy Noble on Friday as head coach Ron Polk will face the team he coached the last two years, the Georgia Bulldogs. First pitch on Friday is at 6:30 p.m.