The Mississippi State Bulldogs dropped two out of three games at home over the weekend against No. 4 South Carolina to begin their SEC season. The team’s second loss to the Gamecocks marked its fifth of six games dating back to the March 10 loss to Loyola Marymount. MSU left-hander Paul Maholm opened the series throwing his first career complete game against USC as the Bulldogs took game one. The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning thanks to solo home runs from first baseman Yaron Peters and designated hitter Trey Dyson. The Bulldogs claimed the lead in the bottom of the third when they rallied with two outs. Shortstop Matthew Maniscalco and second baseman Chad Henry singled, and catcher Jason Burkley was hit by a pitch to load the bases. First baseman Matthew Brinson stepped to the plate and delivered his only hit of the game to drive in two runs. With runners on the corners, third baseman Steve Gendron singled in the go-ahead run giving State a 3-2 lead. Designated hitter Jon Mungle caught fire in the fourth when he hit his third home run in three games. Mungle reached base on each of his following plate appearances and scored four runs as the Bulldogs won 12-4.
The Gamecocks gave right-handed pitcher Tanner Brock his first loss of the season in the second game of the series. Brock thrived eraly on allowing only two hits in the first three innings, and he got help in the second when Mungle extended his home run streak to four games.
USC’s Peters and Dyson set the pace for the top of the fourth with singles off Brock that set up runners on first and third for left fielder Garris Gonce. Gonce ripped a double to left field that scored Peters and moved Dyson to third. Third baseman Brian Buscher followed with a two-RBI triple and scored on a groundout to give South Carolina a 4-1 lead. The Gamecocks scored again in the fifth to go up by four. State cut into the lead in the seventh when Mungle singled in two runs making it a 5-3 ball game, but that score would hold up as Mungle struck out swinging in the bottom of the ninth as the possible tying run. South Carolina faced five different MSU pitchers on Sunday and came out on top to finish the series with two victories.
USC scored a run in the first, but the Bulldogs answered quickly by scoring in the bottom half of the inning. Singles by Maniscalco and Henry along with a Brinson walk loaded the bases for Burkley, the cleanup hitter. Burkley doubled to score Maniscalco and Henry, and Brinson followed them home on a groundout making the score 3-1 in favor of the ‘Dawgs. The Gamecocks pulled within one in the third inning and got on top in the fourth. After USC manufactured a run to tie the game, Bulldog reliever Jacob Blakeney struck out two in a row with two on base. The next batter, shortstop Drew Meyer, forced a different result by belting a three-run homer that put the Gamecocks up 6-3. MSU cut the lead to one in the fifth inning but failed to score in the last four, and USC won by a final score of 9-6.