Freshman designated hitter Jon Mungle drove in a career-high four runs Tuesday night to lead Mississippi State (24-15-1) to an 8-3 win over UAB at Dudy Noble Field. Mungle lashed a two-run double to highlight a four-run, five-hit third-inning burst that staked MSU starter Joey Collums (3-3) to a 5-0 lead. He later added a two-run home run in the seventh to cap the scoring in the game.
Collums retired the first 10 batters he faced and scattered three hits during his five-inning start. He allowed one run, struck out four and did not walk a batter in picking up the win.
The Bulldogs scored first, opening the game with singles by Matthew Maniscalco and Chad Henry and a two-out, run-scoring hit by Steve Gendron.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases with three straight singles off UAB starter Ryan Huffman (1-4) to open the third, and Mungle doubled into the right field corner to score two runs.
Jason Burkley drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to right and Michael Brown singled in Mungle with the Bulldogs’ fourth run of the inning.
MSU’s Henry enjoyed a career night with four hits, including an RBI single in the sixth inning that gave State a 6-2 lead. UAB second baseman Seth Rollin went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a home run and drove in two of the Blazers’ three runs. Matt Gaulder singled and Rollin followed with an RBI double into the left field corner in the fifth. Two innings later Rollin added a solo home run, his sixth roundtripper of the season.
State resumes SEC competition on the road this weekend, traveling to Nashville, Tenn., for a three-game series at Vanderbilt.
MSU 8, UAB 3
UAB 000 011 100–3-9-4
MSU 104 001 20x–8-13-0
WP–Joey Collums (3-3). LP–Ryan Huffman (2-3). HR– (MSU) Jon Mungle (7); (UAB) Seth Rollin (6). T–2:21. ATT–6,043 (paid), 1,588 (actual).