It was a perfect weekend for baseball as Dudy Noble Field saw the opening weekend of Bulldog baseball bring much success for the home team. State hosted Akron and Lamar in a three-day, double round-robin series, and it was all Bulldogs all weekend.
In the first game against Akron, senior Nick Vickerson smacked a leadoff home run, and the Bulldogs never looked back from there. A six-run sixth inning and a three-run seventh, along with stellar pitching, gave the Bulldogs a 10-0 win.
Junior Devin Jones pitched seven innings of one-hit ball and then gave way to freshman Daryl Norris who allowed no hits the final two innings. Coach John Cohen said he was happy with Jones’s pitching performance in the big win.
“We won’t have many days like today; we will have to focus on small ball, but it feels good to get this one in,” Cohen said. “We were able to get a lot of guys in and have them contribute today. We stayed focused and capitalized on every little play.”
Jones, who finished with a 2-4 record last season, will take on a more significant role this season. He said he was excited to start the season off so strongly.
“It was real important for me personally to go out and set the tone for a good season; the team chemistry is two or three times better than it has been the last couple of years,” Jones said. “The newcomers have really adapted to the program. This was a good way to start the season.”
The Bulldogs carried their solid play into Saturday, defeating Lamar 2-0 and Akron 10-1. In their first game against Lamar, sophomore Chris Stratton put in a six-inning, 10 strikeout performance, and junior Caleb Reed recorded the first save of the season as he closed out the final three innings. Stratton was third on the team with an ERA of 5.29 last season and was tied for first with five wins.
State scored two runs on doubles by Vickerson and senior Jarrod Parks in the third and fifth innings. State’s back-to-back shutouts marked the first time to accomplish this since 2003 against Ole Miss.
In the second game of the day, Norris made a name for himself, finishing 3-5 with five RBIs. He was a homer shy of hitting for the cycle, but the first baseman had a solid start to his collegiate career.
Parks added two RBIs, and Vickerson also had three hits to pace a Bulldogs offense that finished with 17 hits. Defensively, the Bulldogs committed no errors and had another great day on the mound. Chad Girodo started the game off and pitched 4.2 innings, giving up only one run. Luis Pollorena relieved him for the next 3.1 innings, gave up no hits and picked up the win. Hunter Renfroe pitched a hitless ninth inning to close out the game. Cohen was impressed with the Bulldogs’ pitching Saturday.
“I was really happy with our arms today; it is hard to play 18 innings with a split between the games,” Cohen said. “It’s good to start like this, but everyone in the league does it. Southeastern Conference games will be the measuring stick for this team.”
Sunday saw more of the same from the Bulldogs as they demolished Lamar 17-2. The first inning alone was all the Dawgs needed as MSU scored 13 runs off of four different Lamar pitchers. Lamar didn’t even record an out until State’s 13th batter of the inning. In the middle of this first inning route, shortstop Jonathan Ogden blasted a grand slam. Cohen was pleased with his team’s performance and said big innings win baseball games.
“Everything we’re trying to do offensively came that one inning; I like to manufacture that big inning as many different ways as we possibly can,” Cohen said. “When you’re a coach on the other side, and there’s the threat of the bunt, the threat that the ball might leave the ballpark and a threat that a guy might run, it puts a lot of pressure on that defense, and that’s where errors come from.”
Other impressive performances at the plate were turned in by Parks, who finished 3-3, Norris, who went 2-3 with three RBIs ,and freshman C.T. Bradford who was 2-5 with three RBIs. Freshman Evan Mitchell picked up his first collegiate win with 3.1 scoreless innings in relief.
Overall, the weekend was a success on the field and for the players becoming a team. Bradford said the first weekend of games really made the team closer.
“The team chemistry is more than I’ve ever had on a team; it’s really fun,” Bradford said. “The older guys have stepped up and really taken a lot of the younger guys under their wing and showed us the ropes.”
The Bulldogs’ next game is tonight at 4 at Dudy Noble against Northwestern State, and then MSU hosts Belmont in a three-game series this weekend.