There was a little bit of everything in the opening weekend of baseball at Dudy Noble: a come-from-behind win, a true freshman throwing six scoreless innings in his first start and a player hitting a grand slam for his first hit of the season.
The Bulldogs swept the visiting Rhode Island Rams in a three-game home stand to start the season 3-0, something designated hitter Ryan Duffy said was important for the young team.
“It’s huge. We haven’t swept in a couple years now, so it feels good to get the sweep,” Duffy said. “We got a whole new team, a whole bunch of great guys. We’re looking for great things year and hopefully we’ll keep doing well the whole season.”
MSU needed a rally in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Rams in game one of the series on Friday afternoon. The Bulldogs entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 8-7, but a Ryan Collins single scored Trey Johnson, who was pinch running for Ryan Duffy to tie the game. Following Collins’ single, Luke Adkins centered to right-centerfield to score catcher Wes Thigpen and give the Bulldogs a 9-8 win on opening day.
The Bulldogs offense was consistent with 13 hits, but five MSU errors put Rhode Island in a position to win the game. Greg Houston picked up the win, retiring the Rams in order in the top half of the ninth.
The second game of the series was the debut of true freshman Chris Stratton. The Tupelo native did not show any nerves in his first collegiate start, throwing six scoreless innings while only allowing four hits. Stratton also struck out six Ram batters.
Stratton, one of many young arms on the Bulldog pitching staff, said he was not phased by making his first collegiate start.
“You have nerves in the beginning, but once you get the first out, it’s all good,” Stratton said.
While Stratton was starring on the mound for the Bulldogs, senior first baseman Connor Powers was making news with his bat. Powers hit solo home runs in the first and the third innings. He combined for seven RBIs on the weekend.
The Bulldogs scored six runs in the third inning of Saturday’s contest en route to a 9-0 shutout.
The third and final game of the series featured the season’s first grand slam as the Bulldogs beat the Rams 12-6.
Rhode Island roughed up starting pitcher Tyler Whitney for three runs in the first inning, but the senior would regroup to throw three consecutive scoreless innings in the second, third and fourth innings.
Shortstop Jonathan Ogden went 3-for-4 in Sunday’s game with a two run homerun in the fourth inning. Following Ogden’s homerun was a grand slam by Duffy to give the Bulldogs a 10-3 lead. The grand slam was Duffy’s first hit of the season.
From there, the Bulldogs would cruise to a 12-6 win as Corey Collins, who gave up one hit in three innings of relief, picked up the win for the Bulldogs.
Head coach John Cohen said that he was pleased with the team’s ability to win games even if they are not playing at the highest level.
“You just want to survive the first weekend, and I think it’s the mark of a good club when you don’t play well and still win games,” Cohen said.