With their second-straight four-game sweep, the Diamond Dogs improved their perfect record to 8-0 in what was not exactly baseball weather at Dudy Noble Field this weekend.  
It was a cold and windy evening for the first meeting in series history between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Marshall Thundering Herd on Friday night at Dudy Noble Field. After an error by senior third baseman Matthew Britton and two big hits from Aaron Bossi and Sergio Leon, Marshall took the early 2-0 lead in the top of the third. The Bulldogs would get a run back in the sixth inning on a double from John Holland that scored Seth Heck, but the real momentum swing came in the following inning. Jacob Robson got the inning started with a single and a stolen base. Then Robson scored the game-tying run on a double down the right field line by Ryan Gridley. Later in the inning, Gridley scored on a single from freshman Brent Rooker to take the lead. With two-outs and runners on second and third, a wild pitch scored both Cody Brown from third, who pinch ran for Rooker, and Matt Spruill from second. The Bulldogs scored an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning to set the 6-2 final.
Bulldog junior Preston Brown started on the mound for MSU, giving up six hits and one earned run while striking out a career-high eight batters. Ross Mitchell tossed three shutout innings in relief of Brown and recorded the save. Jacob Robson led the MSU offense with three hits, two runs scored and three stolen bases. 
Head Coach John Cohen was pleased with a key victory in less-than-ideal weather conditions.
“Probably everybody who’s playing baseball right now feels the same way. You’re really not playing an opponent. You’re playing against the elements. You’re playing against the game itself. So, I think we survived this and really learned a little more about ourselves,” Cohen said.  
Cohen’s club squared off against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs at noon on Saturday and once again trailed early. MSU went down 1-0 in the first inning, but scored nine runs on only three hits in the bottom of the second inning. These runs included a bizarre two out, three-run inside the park home run by Gridley that landed in shallow center field. Alabama A&M second baseman Julio Nunez dove for the fly ball and lay on the grass for several seconds afterward as the crowd waited for the umpire’s call. The umpire ruled Nunez did not catch the ball. Gridley rounded all of the bases and hit the first inside the park home run for MSU since 2012. MSU went on to score nine more runs in the next six innings to win 18-2.
Rooker led the offense with three hits, five RBI and his first career home run in Maroon and White. Robson continued his hot streak with three hits and three runs scored. MSU sophomore Austin Sexton pitched six innings, allowed only two hits, one earned run and recorded a career-high eight strikeouts. 
For the third time on the weekend, the Bulldogs went down early in their second game on Saturday against Marshall, 1-0. The Bulldog offense responded when Gridley scored on a Cody Brown double to tie the game 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, MSU took a big lead in the fourth inning. Rooker hit his second home run of the double-header scoring Reid Humphreys. Gridley later scored on a single, and Cody Brown later scored on a Holland walk. After the fifth inning, the rain began to pour, and the game was delayed until Sunday. Both Marshall and MSU put more runs on the board, but MSU held on to win 7-4 in Sunday’s conclusion.
Lucas Laster pitched five innings for the Bulldogs giving up one earned run, and Trevor Fitts retired the final four batters to finish the game and earn the save.
MSU’s first nail-biter of the season came in its final game of the weekend against Alabama A&M. With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Gridley’s RBI single scored Robson from second to give MSU the lead. However, the next inning Fitts found himself in a one-out, bases loaded jam. Nevertheless, Fitts got a strike out and a force out at third to seal the 2-1 win. Sophomore Vance Tatum pitched six innings, allowing only one run, but Ross Mitchell earned the win for MSU to improve to 2-0 on the season. Gridley said the adversity faced early in the year will be beneficial to the team.
“No untested team is going to win the whole thing,” Gridley said. “You have to battle, you have to have games that go to the very end, and you don’t know who’s going to win.”
Senior first baseman Wes Rea had one pinch hit at bat on Saturday, but is still recovering from an injuring suffered in the opening weekend. Cohen expects his return soon.
“I think he is really close to being able to step out there and play,” Cohen said.
Cohen also complimented Fitts and his developing role as the closer.
“Trevor wants the baseball. He wants that role that Jonathan Holder had,” Cohen said. “We feel very comfortable with him in those situations.”
MSU and Texas A&M are currently the only undefeated teams in the SEC. The Bulldogs will host Alcorn State Tuesday night Dudy Noble Field.