MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two doubles by Hunter Stovall were the highlight for the Mississippi State baseball team Wednesday night in a 6-1 loss to Memphis at AutoZone Park.
MSU (19-19) had only five hits but received strong pitching from starter Denver McQuary and Keegan James to stay in the game.
“It was a disappointing night all the way around,” MSU interim coach Gary Henderson said. “In the seventh inning, a leadoff walk hurt us. We followed with an intentional walk to set up the double play ball and that led to a four-spot. We need to hit more balls hard and have crisper at-bats.”
Memphis (13-25) built a 2-0 lead on a solo home run by Alec Trela in the second inning and a sacrifice fly by Cale Hennemann in the third.
MSU broke through in the seventh. Tanner Allen hit a leadoff triple and scored a double by Stovall. A walk to Josh Hatcher followed. However, the Bulldogs then made three-straight outs.
The Tigers put the game away with four runs in the home half of the seventh.
McQuary (1-2) allowed three hits and two runs in three innings. He walked one and struck out three. James followed with three innings of shutout relief.
Jared Liebelt started the seventh. He gave way to Blake Smith. Zach Neff followed and helped the Bulldogs get out of the seventh before finishing the game.
Trela had four of Memphis’ 10 hits. Connor Alexander (2-2) threw six innings to earn the win, while Hunter Smith finished the game for his second save.
MSU will play host to No. 4 Arkansas at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Game 1 of a three-game weekend series at Dudy Noble Field. The baseball series is part of MSU’s annual Super Bulldog Weekend.
Ole Miss rolls past Arkansas State
OXFORD — Thomas Dillard and Grae Kessinger hit home runs in the second inning, and Ryan Olenek, Will Golsan, and Nick Fortes had multiple hits Wednesday to lead the No. 4 Ole Miss baseball team to a 10-3 victory against Arkansas State at Swayze Field.
The home runs by Dillard and Kessinger marked the first time since February that Ole Miss (30-8) have hit two in one inning.
Dillard moved into sole possession of first place on the team with his eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot.
The victory helped Ole Miss improve to 11-0 in mid-week games.
With a single in the first, Olenek extended his team-best hitting streak to 16 consecutive games. It is also the longest of any Rebel this season.
Olenek has 19 multi-hit games this season, the most in the SEC.
Freshman Jordan Fowler (4-0) lowered his earned run average to 3.43. His four wins place him behind the trio of weekend starters and fellow midweek starter Houston Roth for most victories on the year, and the most by a freshman.
Fowler’s only blemish came in the second on a solo home run before he was relieved for Austin Miller after five innings. Connor Green, Will Stokes, and Greer Holston finished the game.
Ole Miss will play host to No. 24 Georgia this weekend.
Alabama shuts out Alcorn State
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama baseball team used four pitchers Wednesday in a 3-0 victory against Alcorn State at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
The victory helped the Crimson Tide improve to 22-17.
“I’m glad we won, but this was not our best baseball,” Alabama coach Brad Bohannon said. “We have got play better on Friday night against a really good Auburn team, and I know our guys are looking forward to the challenge.”
Senior Tyler Adams (3-0) earned the win with 3 2/3 innings in relief. Junior starter Dylan Duarte along with relievers Brady Greene, a freshman, and redshirt sophomore Connor Stutts joined Adams in limiting the Braves to two hits.
The Crimson Tide struck first with two runs in the fourth inning. Senior Chandler Avant led off with a walk and scored on a double by classmate Hunter Alexander. After a flyout moved Alexander to third, freshman Sam Praytor hit a liner to right, scoring Alexander.
In the sixth, Alexander delivered a one-out single and advanced to second on a wild pitch one out later. Praytor walked with Alexander moving on the pitch. The senior first baseman stole third and an error on the third baseman allowed the ball to go into left field and Alexander to score.
Alexander went 2-for-4 for his 10th multi-hit game of the season.
Alabama will play host to Auburn at 6 p.m. Friday in Game 1 of a three-game weekend series.
n In related news, Alabama will hold a fireworks show after the game Friday. It will be the second time at renovated Sewell-Thomas Stadium that the Crimson Tide will have a fireworks display.
The game also will feature numerous giveaways, including koozies and T-shirts to first 1,000 fans. In addition, the Crimson Tide will have free Whataburger for the first 300 students in the outfield terrace.
Friday’s game is the only one of the three this weekend that reserved seats still remain.
ICC baseball team sweeps Coahoma C.C.
FULTON — The Itawamba Community College baseball team swept Coahoma C.C. 12-1 in four-and-a-half innings and 9-8 on Wednesday.
ICC improved to 25-9 and 11-7 in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges North Division.
In Game 1, Drake Wallace hit a home run and Justin Medlin had a double and a triple for the Indians, who put the mercy rule into effect with an 11-run fourth inning.
In Game 2, ICC scored three runs in the first to take a 3-2 lead and tacked on four more runs in the third. It survived a six-run fifth to get the victory.
LaBryant Siddell had three hits, including a home run, while Kyle Crigger, who earned the victory, and Hunter Nabors hit home runs.
ICC will play host to East Central C.C. at 2 p.m. Saturday in a doubleheader.
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