Mississippi State swept the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in a three-game baseball series that consisted of a doubleheader on Saturday and a Sunday afternoon contest. The Bulldogs, now 6-1-1, put on their best hitting performances of the season with 44 total hits and won each game handily (11-6, 14-2, 5-1). In the first game, starting pitcher Tanner Brock had no problem against the Gamecock hitters as he struck out seven and allowed only three hits in six innings.
On offense, the Bulldogs got to work early by scoring in the first. Singles by shortstop Matthew Maniscalco and second baseman Chad Henry put runners on the corners for first baseman Matthew Brinson. Brinson capitalized with a double to center field that brought in both base runners. After an error that scored Brinson, right fielder Steve Gendron drove in the fourth run of the inning with a double.
In the bottom of the third with MSU leading 4-1, Brinson, Jason Burkley (catcher) and Jon Mungle (DH) homered consecutively to open the inning and extend State’s lead to six.
MSU scored three more in the next inning to make it a 10-1 ballgame, and JSU continued to struggle against Brock, who allowed just one more run before coming out. The Bulldogs scored a run in the seventh and began substituting. JSU took advantage of the subs by scoring four runs in the eighth to pull within five, but they failed to score in the ninth making the final score 11-6.
Saturday’s second game was much of the same story as the bulldogs dominated in the field and with the bats. Left-handed pitcher Paul Maholm struck out eleven JSU batters and gave up just two runs in his six innings on the mound.
Burkley led MSU’s hitting attack going three for four and driving in three runs. He went deep for the second time of the day with a home run that accounted for two of the Bulldogs’ four first-inning runs. Brinson chipped in with three hits and two RBI. He opened up another four-run inning for State when he doubled in the fourth to score Maniscalco. Maholm held the Gamecocks scoreless in the middle three innings, and the Bulldogs cruised to a 14-2 victory.
“Last week, I wasn’t in sync with everything,” Maholm said referring to his performance in the loss to Ohio State. “I worked hard all week and came out today and just tried to get ahead on every batter.” The hits didn’t come quite as easily for MSU in game three, but a dazzling pitching performance by lefty Joey Collums kept JSU from threatening. Collums faced 27 batters on the afternoon and struck out 15 of them for a career-high. Steve Gendron provided much of the Bulldog offense with singles in his first three plate appearances, two of which brought in a run.
On the mound, Collums had a two-hit shutout going until the top of the seventh. He struck out JSU catcher Scott Smith who swung at a wild pitch that got by Burkley and allowed Smith to reach first. JSU Designated hitter Travis Suereth singled to right field, and Collums loaded the bases when he gave up his first walk of the game to the next batter. Collums picked up his 15th and final strikeout for the first out of the inning, but a sacrifice fly by Gamecock second baseman John McCarley ended the shutout. Righty Jonathan Papelbon went in for Collums in the eighth and picked up five strikeouts of his own giving State an even 20 strikeouts for the game.
“I didn’t really feel great today as far as my fastball went,” Collums said. “I wasn’t throwing hard at all, so I was surprised to get so many swings and misses.”
Collums and the ‘Dawgs return to action Wednesday against Jackson State. The first pitch between the Bulldogs and the Tigers is set for 4 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field.