Mississippi State baseball’s White squad used the weekend to seal the Banana Split Series against the Maroon team. The Maroons fell short for the third time in three games and will have to buy banana splits for the White squad after today’s conclusion of the five-game series.
Saturday, Oct. 18
Catcher Craig Tatum walked on two pitches in the bottom of the 12th inning with the bases loaded to put the finishing touches on his team’s 5-4 Saturday comeback against the Maroons. The win propelled the White squad to a 2-0 advantage in the annual series.
Game two became particularly interesting after the traditionally scheduled 10 innings concluded with the score knotted at four. In accordance with Banana Split Series rules, each batter from the 11th inning on came to the plate with a 3-2 count.
Losing pitcher Brad Corley loaded the bases with one out after walking three of four batters. Tatum, who was 3-for-3 on the day, fouled off the first pitch and took the next one in the dirt for the winning RBI.
“Corley throws so hard, so it’s hard for him to come in there and throw one pitch because he usually dominates people throughout the count,” Tatum said after admitting the walk was the easiest game-winner of his career. “I’d ‘been fishing’ a lot before the series started, but the first one I fouled off, and the second one I didn’t even have to think about.”
Freshman Jesse Carver kept the White team in the game with five innings of relief. The Starkville High graduate carved up his Maroon opponents with three strikeouts and nine forced fly-outs while allowing no runs on three hits.
“That’s what I need as a freshman to have a lot of confidence,” Carver said. “That’s everything a pitcher can want-to come in with the team down and end up winning the game.”
In the top of the ninth with a man on third for the Maroons, redshirt freshman Ben Grisham camped under Corley’s fly ball in right field, attempting to record the third out.
Former Bulldog first baseman Matthew Brinson, who served as field umpire, saw the ball fall to the ground just after Grisham appeared to catch it. Brinson got an earful from former teammates on both sides before finally ruling Corley out.
“It’s competitive,” Brinson said. “Nobody wants to pay for somebody else’s banana split. They want to eat their own.”
With the Whites down 4-3 in the bottom of the 10th, Grisham drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly to foul territory.
Sunday, Oct. 19
Game three of the series saw no extra innings or arguing with umpires, but the 3-2 White victory featured several intriguing late moments.
The White squad threatened to increase its lead in the top of the 10th with the bases loaded and nobody out.
With freshman Jeremiah Boling on the mound for the Maroons, Tyler Scarbrough smoked a line drive to the left side. Steve Gendron laid out in midair to catch the ball, but to the confusion of the runners, he threw home.
Catcher Thomas Berkerey saw that freshman Jeffrey Rea was still off the third base bag, so he threw to shortstop Daniel Tackett, who was covering third, for the second out. Tackett caught Tatum napping off second base and threw to freshman Casey Hamilton for the 5-2-6-4 triple play.
Gendron says he threw to the plate because he didn’t think he made the catch.
“It kind of stuck on the end of my glove,” Gendron said. “When I hit the ground, it fell, and I just assumed they were going to call it ‘no catch,’ so I just jumped up and threw home. I don’t think anybody saw it roll out but me.”
“It was a weird play, but it was pretty cool,” said Gendron. “It was the first one (triple play) I’ve ever seen.”
In the bottom of the 10th, Jeff Butts singled to right-center with Joseph Hunter already on first. Freshman Ryan Fesmire fielded the ball and gunned down Hunter, who was caught rounding second base too far.
With two outs, Fesmire picked up a Brian LaNinfa single and threw to second again. This time, the second baseman relayed the ball to home plate where Butts was tagged for the final out.
Gendron, a senior, said it would have been nice to win the series his last time around.
“It would have been cool for me because this is the third year I’ve been with Coach (Ron) Polk, and I haven’t won anything. I’m just kind of upset we’ve got to pay for the banana splits now.”