STARKVILLE — The script for the Mississippi State University baseball team’s game Friday night at Dudy Noble Field seemed destined to be a sequel of its most recent mid-week disappointment.
But a five-run comeback in the final three innings provided a new and exciting ending for MSU in a 5-4 victory against the University of Connecticut.
“I thought our whole club early was just trying too hard, and you can’t play this game that way,” MSU coach John Cohen said.
The game, which was scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start, was delayed by rain for 42 minutes. Similar to the two-hour, 48-minute rain delay Wednesday that contributed to MSU (7-2) coming out flat in all phases in a 7-6 loss to the University of Memphis, the Bulldogs didn’t respond early, managing just three hits and six baserunners in the first six innings.
UConn starter Brian Ward, who had given up two runs in two starts in 14 1/3 innings, kept MSU off balance with four strikeouts. The sophomore left-hander from Milford, Conn., allowed just three runners to reach as far as second base. He kept runners alert with an aggressive pickoff move, and he confidently used three pitches in six innings.
MSU cleanup hitter Trey Porter, a walk-on from Gulport, had the 1,036 fans in attendance at Polk-Dement Stadium believing a comeback was possible when he hit his third home run of the season over the right-field wall and just beyond the reach of outfielder Ryan Moore. The hit was the only one of the game for Porter, who fouled a ball hard off his shin and was nearly removed.
“It really swelled up bad and our trainer is telling us, ‘I don’t know
if he can get around the bases’, so he pulls a Kirk Gibson, so he didn’t really have to,” Cohen said. “He could’ve crawled around them if need be.”
Porter took a 0-2 changeup from senior reliever David Fischer to cut the deficit to 4-3 in the eighth.
“It sure was a changeup, and thank goodness because I was late,” Porter said. “I didn’t think it was out because I caught it off the end (of the bat). I suppose that guy having a lot of velocity helped, too.”
Fischer (0-2), a highly rated prospect who struck out 18 in 16 innings this summer in the Cape Cod League, took the loss after allowing four runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings.
In the ninth, MSU middle infielders Matthew Britton and Adam Frazier scored on an errant throw to home plate by shortstop Tom Verdi with one out. Britton was going on contact on what Cohen calls a ‘down-angle’ play. Verdi’s hurried throw then squirted between the legs of catcher Joe Pavone.
The rally wouldn’t have had momentum unless Frazier, who is
hitting .308 in sophomore season, ran down the first-base line in 4.17 seconds, according to Cohen, to force an errant throw and to reach first.
“It was the little things like that which helped us win this game,” Cohen said. “That’s really cooking down the baseline, and if it’s a
4.25 or 4.3, then he’ll be caught on a swipe tag by the first baseman.”
Verdi, a sophomore, was nearly the hero after he cranked a high fastball from Chris Stratton over the left-field wall for a three-run home run to give UConn its first lead.
“It was a fastball that was supposed to be in,” Stratton said. “It just didn’t get in enough, and I really wish I could have that one back.”
Stratton (3-0) got his third win in as many relief appearances by allowing just six more hits and one more run after Verdi’s home run. He struck out nine. The junior from Tupelo has 20 strikeouts and three walks in 16 innings.
“I could honestly care less if I start again because I love my teammates,” Stratton said. “I just love competing and having fun giving my team a chance to win when I’m in there.”
Despite the slow start offensively, MSU had eight of its final 13 batters reach base to earn a victory against a team that advanced to the Super Regionals last season before being eliminated at the University of South Carolina.
“I think we have a ways to go offensively as a young positional unit,”
Cohen said. “We’re finding ways to win.”
MSU will play host Lipscomb University and UConn at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. today at Dudy Noble Field. MSU will give left-handed senior Nick Routt (0-0, 5.68 ERA) his third start. Junior right-hander Kendall Graveman (0-0, 3.48) will start the second game.
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