MEMPHIS, Tenn. –The Mississippi State baseball team used a five-run first inning Tuesday to provide a spark that carried it to an 8-3 victory against Memphis at AutoZone Park.
The Bulldogs (16-10) scored five or more runs for the fourth-straight game. Ryan Gridley led the charge with three hits and four RBIs. Brent Rooker had two hits — a double and a triple — to extend his hit streak to a career-long 11 games. Jake Mangum and Cody Brown also had two hits. Josh Lovelady had two doubles, and Brant Blaylock had a hit.
“This was an outstanding win,” MSU coach Andy Cannizaro said. “I was really proud of the way our guys started off. We started fast offensively.”
In the first, Mangum reached on a leadoff single and advanced to third on a double by Rooker. Both runners scored on a single by Gridley. A sacrifice fly by Tanner Poole scored Gridley. A two-run double by Lovelady scored Elijah MacNamee and Cody Brown.
The Bulldogs added a run in the second when Gridley singled in Rooker.
Memphis answered with a two-run home run by Chris Carrier in the bottom of the second.
MSU added two runs in the top of the eighth. Gridley led off the with a solo home run over the left-field wall. Brown then doubled and scored on a throwing error that allowed Poole to reach base.
Memphis (16-8) had only three hits. It added a run in the ninth on a one-out double by Jason Santana.
Cole Gordon (2-0) pitched four no-hit innings in relief, striking out five and walking three. Graham Ashcraft started and threw innings in which he allowed two runs on one hit. Denver McQuary and Trysten Barlow pitched an inning apiece.
Jonathan Bowlan (2-3) started for Memphis and went seven innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits. He also struck out six and walked one.
MSU will play Ole Miss in a three-game Southeastern Conference series this weekend in Oxford. Game 1 will be at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU).
n Fitzsimmons delivers walk-off single for Ole Miss: At Oxford, In the bottom of the 10th, a pinch-hit single by redshirt sophomore Michael Fitzsimmons lifted the No. 20 Ole Miss baseball team to a 5-4 victory against Little Rock on Tuesday at Swayze Field.
The Rebels (16-9) won the extra-inning battle against the Trojans (9-16) in front of more than 6,000 elementary school students in attendance for the fifth-annual School Day Game.
Freshman Houston Roth (1-0) struck out the side in the 10th to get the win. Fellow freshman and Ole Miss starting pitcher Greer Holston didn’t allow a run in 5 1/3 innings. He allowed three hits and two walks. Will Stokes and Dallas Woolfolk also pitched out of the bullpen, combining to keep Little Rock off the scoreboard for 2 1/3 innings.
Colby Bortles and Cole Zabowski had two hits in Ole Miss’ nine-hit attack. Fitzsimmons and Chase Cockrell had singles off the bench. Former New Hope High School standout Will Golsan was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run scored.
The Trojans scored all of their runs in the seventh on to a two-run single by Cale Ridling and a two-run homer by Zach Baker. Little Rock used 10 pitchers in the game. McKinley Moore (0-1) suffered the loss.
In the 10th, Watson drew a one-out walk and raced for second on a hit-and-run to eliminate the chance of a double play. The Trojans walked Blackman to set up multiple forceouts and deal with Fitzsimmons. The redshirt sophomore made them pay, ripping a ball into left field to score Watson.
n Auburn beats Alabama in MAX Capital City Classic: At Montgomery, Alabama, the Tigers scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning to beat the Crimson Tide on Tuesday evening at Riverwalk Stadium in front of 7,605 fans in the annual MAX Capital City Classic.
The loss dropped Alabama to 12-13.
“We had guys in scoring position and we hit into a double play one time,” Alabama head coach Greg Goff said. “We just need to play with a little more heart, a little more grit, and a little more dirtiness to get those type of hits when we need them. Our guys need to bring a little more to table every day, and I need to do a better job coaching them up to help us gets wins in games like this.”
Auburn took the early lead with a three-run third inning, but Alabama answered with single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth to tie the game. The run in the top of the sixth helped Auburn improve to 8-1 in the history of the Montgomery series.
Alabama starter Garret Rukes worked three innings and allowed three earned runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out five. Sam Finnerty (1-2), Garrett Suchey, Mike Oczypok, and Jake Walters combined for the final six innings. The relievers allowed two hits and three walks. They struck out six.
Alabama will play host to No. 21 Arkansas this weekend in a three-game SEC series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Game 1 will be at 6 p.m. Friday (SEC Network+).
n Southern Mississippi beats South Alabama: At Hattiesburg, Taylor Braley turned in a third-consecutive quality mid-week pitching start Tuesday to lead the Southern Mississippi baseball team to a 4-2 victory against South Alabama at Pete Taylor Park.
Matt Wallner came up clutch at the plate and on the mound for the Golden Eagles (20-5), who won for the 11th time in their last 12 games.
“It was just a good, clean, well-played ballgame,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said.
Braley (3-0) allowed two runs on five hits through 6 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven to help snap the Jaguars’ six-game winning streak.
Braley’s effort came on the heels of solid starts at New Orleans and against Mississippi State.
Southern Miss went up 2-0 in the third inning after Wallner battled starting left-hander Andy Arguelles (2-1) through seven pitches before lining the eighth for a two-out, bases-loaded single into right-center field.
Cole Donaldson made it 3-0 with his first home run as a Golden Eagle, taking Arguelles over the fence in left-center field with one out in the sixth.
The Jaguars knocked out Braley with one out in the seventh after he allowed two baserunners on a walk and seeing-eye single.
Nick Sandlin entered and walked pinch-hitter Carter Perkins to load the bases. Another pinch-hitter, Paul Russo, put a 1-2 Sandlin pitch against the wall in center field to cut it to 3-2.
Sandlin retired leadoff man Drew LaBounty on a nubber in front of the plate for the second out and then was lifted in favor of left-hander Stevie Powers, who got Brendan Donovan to ground out on a 3-2 count to end the inning.
Hunter Slater gave Southern Miss a bit more breathing room in the seventh when he pinch-hit and tripled off the wall in center. He scored on a wild pitch.
Powers worked around a leadoff single in the eighth before handing it off to Wallner, who pitched a perfect ninth to log his third save.
Former New Hope High standout Wells Davis was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored for South Alabama (15-10).
Southern Miss will play host to New Orleans at 6 p.m. today at Pete Taylor Park.
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