Mississippi State took two out of three from No. 1 Florida in Gainesville this weekend.
Coming into Saturday night’s Game 2, the Diamond Dawgs were facing the prospects of two more games, on the road, vs. the No. 1 team in the nation already down one game. The Gators had been able to beat ace Dakota Hudson in Game 1 and the Bulldogs were still without their second-leading hitter, Jacob Robson.
It didn’t matter because State beat the Gators in the final two games of the series.
Game 2
The Bulldogs got to work early by posting four runs in the 1st inning. Reid Humphreys drove in two with a double. In the 3rd inning, Cody Brown hit a grand slam to bust the game open, 8-0.
VIDEO | @Downtwn_C_brown went to the deli and ordered a GRAND SALAMI. Relive Cody's four-run dinger. #HailStatehttps://t.co/CV8MFcj9SG
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) April 10, 2016
The lead got to 9-0 that inning before the Gators hit a 3-run homer to make it 9-3 in the bottom half. That was all the scoring for the night, however, as both bullpens shut the other team down. For State it was Ryan Rigby who posted five shutout innings and picked up the win. Rigby now has an ERA of 1.23 in 22 IP.
Game 3
This was the first weekend of SEC play for MSU that featured a rubber game. This is also the first Game 3 they won.
Konner Pilkington had four previous starts during the season, but all were in the midweek. In his first weekend start, and first SEC action of the year, he shined. Four innings, no earned runs. He did walk five and give up three hits but was able to work around trouble. His ERA for the year is now 0.89 in 20.1 IP. He could be the new Sunday starter.
There wasn’t much offense in this game as evidence by the 2-1 score. Ryan Gridley hit a home run in the 5th that was a bit hard to decipher as it bounced off a chain link fence and back onto the field of play. In the 7th inning, John Holland hit a ball that appeared to hit a metal awning beyond the fence and bounce back onto the field but it was ruled a double. Instead of being 3-0 at the time, MSU was only able to end the inning with a 2-0 advantage.
Zac Houston picked up the win with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, and Reid Humphreys came in from the outfield to get his third save of the year.
SEC West Standings
1. Mississippi State, 8-4
2. Texas A&M, 7-5
3. Ole Miss, 6-6
3. LSU, 6-6
3. Alabama, 6-6
6. Arkansas, 4-8
7. Auburn, 3-9
State will host Texas A&M, also ranked in the top 5, this weekend. It’s SBW on campus.