The Mississippi State baseball squad opened its season with a series win over the Washington State Cougars.
MSU opened the 2012 campaign with a 6-2 win over Washington State Friday night, led by the bat of sophomore Daryl Norris. The win marked their ninth-consecutive season-opening and home-opening victory as seven of the nine MSU starters earned a hit. Head coach John Cohen was content with his team’s opening-day offensive production.
“I was really pleased with our hitting,” Cohen said. “I think our ball club is a little less swing and miss and a little more line drive ground ball this year.”
Sophomore Taylor Stark began the scoring in a three-run second inning as he drove in Norris on an RBI single while freshmen Wes Rea and Matthew Britton both hit sacrifice flies to extend the lead to 3-0. Washington State scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning, only to have the Bulldogs match their run production as sophomores C.T. Bradford and Adam Frazier both drove in runs to extend the Bulldog lead to 5-2.
Norris, who collected three hits in four plate appearances, drove in a run in the eighth to set the 6-2 final.
“I felt really comfortable at the plate,” Norris said. “I think there were a few first-game jitters out there, but I think we did a good job of hiding them, and I think everybody is going to be a lot more comfortable from now on.”
Junior Chris Stratton picked up the win on the mound after Ben Bracewell and Jonathan Holder threw a collective five innings only allowing two runs.
A rainy Saturday afternoon forced a double header on Sunday where the Bulldogs split the twin bill but clinched the overall weekend series.
Washington State struck first in game one scoring three unanswered before Bulldog newcomer Trey Porter doubled and scored on a Matthew Britton RBI ground out. Trailing 4-2 in the sixth inning, Porter delivered again with a two-run homerun to tie the game.
“Trey is a good player,” Cohen said. “He gets all over the plate and is very difficult to pitch to. When he gets those kinds of situations, he makes the most of it.”
The Bulldogs’ pitching staff collected 19 strikeouts and threw eight consecutive scoreless innings before Cougar Tommy Richards’ two-run single in the top of the 13th inning was enough to give Washington State a 6-5 win. Senior Caleb Reed was handed the loss as he threw 93 pitches allowing two runs on three hits while striking out nine, a career high.
“They have a lot of lefties in their lineup, and they hit the ball very well,” Reed said. “That is probably the best team we’ve played to open the year since I’ve been here.”
In the rubber match, MSU’s Mitch Slauter drove in the game-tying run and a throwing error scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning as the Bulldogs knocked off Washington State 5-4.
The Cougars built an early 2-0 lead before a Bulldog run in the third and Porter’s second homerun of the day tied the game in the sixth.
“I just want to contribute whatever way I can,” Porter said. “In my first at-bat, I had huge butterflies, but, once you get that first at-bat out of the way, it just comes down to playing baseball.”
Trailing 4-2 in the eighth, a leadoff walk to Adam Frazier began the MSU rally. Brent Brownlee followed with a double, and a sacrifice fly by Porter brought the Bulldogs within one run. Slauter kept it going with an RBI-double to the left center gap before Bradford hit a single and a throwing error allowed Slauter to plate the game-winning run.
Taylor Stark earned the win in relief while starter Kendall Graveman went six innings allowing three hits and striking out four.
Cohen said he was proud of his team’s opening series win.
“I just have this overwhelming feeling that we have the right kids, and we’re going to be better 50 games from now than we are right now,” he said. “Playing a team of this caliber was crucial in my mind.”
The Baseball Bulldogs return to the diamond this weekend as they host Kansas and Mississippi Valley State.