From Staff Reports
The slide continues for Mississippi State’s baseball team.
A week after dropping two of three games to Alabama in the opening Southeastern Conference series of the season, the Bulldogs dug that SEC hole a little deeper this weekend, dropping the first two games of a series at Kentucky.
The Wildcats earned a 10-2 win Friday night and followed up with a 9-7 victory on Saturday.
MSU, which started the season at 13-0, has now lost eight of its last 12 games and is off to a 1-4 start in conference play.
On Saturday, MSU never led as the Wildcats struck for two first-inning runs, both coming on a two-run home run by Ka’Ai Tom. The home run was hit against MSU starter Austin Sexton (3-1), who allowed five runs in 5.1 innings of work to absorb his first loss of the season. That led would reach 3-0 before MSU began to fight back.
In the top of the third, MSU third baseman Matthew Britton began his best day of the season, connecting for a leadoff double. Britton would later score on a sacrifice fly from MSU center fielder Jacob Robson, and two innings later, Britton would connect for his first home run of the season to cut Kentucky’s lead to 3-2.
MSU’s pitching staff couldn’t keep the Wildcats at bay, however, as Kentucky pushed across five runs in the sixth and seventh innings to push the lead to 8-3. After another Kentucky run in the eighth helped the Wildcats build a 9-3 advantage, MSU’s bats finally woke up in the ninth, erupting for four runs. Catcher Cody Walker hit a two-run home run and Robson delivered a solo shot in the inning, but it was too late for the Bulldogs, who dropped their second-straight series to start SEC play.
MSU pitchers were especially ineffective against Kentucky on Saturday, as the Bulldogs allowed nine runs on 12 hits and walked seven Wildcats.
Kentucky’s Dustin Beggs allowed three runs over six innings to improve his record to 3-2 on the season.
Offensively, Britton and right fielder Gavin Collins were the only Bulldogs to record multiple hits. Britton recorded the home run and the double while Collins singled and doubled.
With the loss, MSU fell to 17-8 overall.
In Friday night’s opener, MSU struggled in its first road game of the season.
The Bulldogs scored a run without the benefit of a base hit in the second inning for their only lead of the series thus far, then watched as Kentucky exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the second to take a 7-1 lead.
MSU starter Preston Brown (3-2) didn’t make it out of the second, instead giving up six earned runs in just 1.2 innings of work. Brown faced just 10 hitters and gave up six hits while walking another.
MSU would score just once more, pushing across a run on a solo home run by first baseman Wes Rea. It was Rea’s second home run of the year.
Kentucky, meanwhile, added to its lead with a run in the third and two in the eighth. Five MSU pitchers – Brown, Ross Mitchell, Levi Mintz, Trent Waddell and Dakota Hudson – took turns on the mound, and all five gave up at least one run.
Kentucky’s Zack Brown earned the win, giving up two runs in 7.1 innings.
The two teams will meet today at 12:30 p.m. locally to finish the series.
n Rebels take first two from Gators: The Ole Miss baseball team took down No. 2 Florida to earn its first conference series win of the season. Ranked No. 2 in the country, Florida dropped the first two games of this weekend’s series in Oxford, as Ole Miss earned a 4-1 victory Friday night before capturing the series with a 5-2 win on Saturday afternoon.
In Friday’s opener, junior starter Christian Trent and reliever Scott Weathersby combined to allow just one run on three hits in keeping the powerful Florida lineup in check.
Trent, who improved to 4-1 this season and 13-1 for his career, retired the first eight batters he faced and gave up just one run on two hits through 6.1 innings.
“He was outstanding,” said Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco of his Friday night starter. “It was by far his best outing of the year. He really located his fastball on both sides of the plate and had a really good change-up. And like he can do, when he got into that jam in the fifth, he’s able to make some pitches and get out of it.”
Weathersby did the rest, limiting Florida to one hit over the final 2.2 innings for the save.
Offensively, Ole Miss broke into the scoring column in the first inning on a two-run home run by sophomore center fielder J.B. Woodman, his third home run of the season. Woodman and senior catcher Austin Knight each drove in two runs to lead the Rebels.
In the series clincher, senior Sikes Orvis was the offensive star, going 2-for-2 with a double, a home run and four RBIs in helping the Rebels score all five of their runs in the first three innings. Third baseman Will Golsan added three hits for the Rebels.
Starting pitcher Brady Bramlett struck out six and allowed one earned run in six innings for his third win of the year.
Florida captured the final game of the series Saturday night by a score of 8-1. Ole Miss finished the series at 13-10 overall, 3-3 in league play.
n Alabama salvages one against Texas A&M: After dropping the first two games of a three-game series, Alabama rebounded and handed No. 5 Texas A&M its first loss of the season with a 6-2 win Saturday night.
The third game of the series had been moved up due to expected inclemend weather later today.
A week after winning two of three games at Mississippi State, Alabama dropped a 4-2 decision to Texas A&M Friday night and a 10-5 decision to the Aggies on Saturday. In Saturday night’s win, Alabama’s Chandler Avant was 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs while center fielder Georgia Salem registered a pair of hits.
Starting pitcher A.J. Bramblett earned the win for the Crimson Tide (12-9, 3-3), striking out three while allowing two earned runs over seven innings.
n Eagles earn split: With the prospect of rain forcing a Friday night doubleheader, Southern Miss forged a split with homestanding Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana, Friday night. The Eagles won the opener by a score of 13-4 before suffering a 2-1 defeat in the nightcap.
In the opener, the Golden Eagles (13-8-1, 3-2) collected 18 hits, including a 5-for-5 contest with three RBI for Taylor Braley, while Matt Durst, Chuckie Robinson and Nick Dawson each homered.
Durst hit a three-run shot for his second of the year, while Robinson and Dawson collected their first career round-trippers. Robinson finished the contest with three hits and drove in three runs, while Durst finished with three RBI. Daniel Keating added three hits and three runs for the Golden Eagles.
The Golden Eagles scored in six different innings, plating three runs in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings.
Southern Miss starter Christian Talley improved to 2-3 on the year as he allowed four runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts over 5.1 innings. USM pitcher Cody Carroll was the hard-luck loser in Game 2 despite allowing just two runs in seven innings.
The two teams will attempt to finish the seris today at 1 p.m. in Ruston.
n LSU wins series at Arkansas: Bouncing back from a Thursday night loss, No. 1 LSU closed its series at Arkansas with two easy wins, a 16-3 win on Friday night and a 7-4 victory Saturday.
Top-ranked LSU collected 15 hits, including two homers, and freshman right-hander Jake Godfrey earned his fifth win of the year as the Tigers posted a 7-4 win over Arkansas at Baum Stadium.
LSU improved to 21-3 overall and 4-2 in the SEC, while Arkansas dropped to 11-11 and 1-5. LSU has now won 10 of its last 11 SEC regular-season series with Arkansas. In its Friday night win, LSU punded out a season-high 21 hits.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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