Diamond Dawgs get second consecutive SEC sweep

Mississippi State baseball went to Auburn this weekend and came away with a series sweep.

MSU came into the ninth conference series of the season just one game out of first place in the SEC west. The Bulldogs had won seven of eight SEC series before this weekend including a sweep of the Missouri Tigers last weekend at Dudy Noble. With this weekend’s opponent, Auburn, being in the bottom of the conference standings this appeared to be the perfect opportunity to get another sweep. And that’s exactly what the Diamond Dawgs accomplished.

Game 1

The first game of the series was a flash back to the first half of conference play. Dakota Hudson was outstanding, and that’s probably an understatement. Hudson threw a complete game shutout, allowing only six hits. His second complete game of the season ties him with Austin Sexton for the team lead. Offensively the Dawgs were good enough. Jack Kruger had a solo home run and Brent Rooker had a RBI ground rule double. Gavin Collins and Reid Humphreys also had RBI base hits as MSU wins 4-0.

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Game 2

The Bulldog bats would come to life early in the second game and put up eight runs in the second inning. Austin Sexton was the starting pitcher and he went 6.2 innings giving up six hits and six runs(only 3 earned). His line wouldn’t matter much as the Bulldogs had thirteen extra base hits. Auburn would mount a small come back, pulling within four runs going into the 8th inning. Daniel Brown came in to pitch the final 2.1 innings and allow only two hits. State scored three runs in both the 8th and 9th to put the game away. Gavin Collins and Brent Rooker both had homeruns on the way to a 16-6 series clinching victory.

Game 3

The Diamond Dawgs would call on true freshman Konnor Pilkington to help secure the sweep. As we have seen in the past several weeks, Konnor was ready to answer the bell. Pilkington threw a career high six innings, shutting out the Tigers and allowing just three hits. That turned out to be more than the offense needed as the bats continued their hot streak. Nathaniel Lowe had three hits, including a homerun, and Kruger and Humphreys added homeruns as the Dawgs took game 3 10-3.

Weekend Take Aways

A few things jumped out at me during this weekend. I seem to remember someone on this site writing about Dakota Hudson returning to his winning ways a few weeks ago. He was as dominant as he has been all year and that is HUGE. Daniel Brown seems to have settled into this new long relief position. Having a lefty able to come in and give you 3 or more innings is pretty nice. Konnor Pilkington just keeps getting better every start. He will become a stud for the next couple of years. And lastly, the bats are on fire! MSU scored 30 runs in this series on 45 hits. Add that to the Missouri series, and they have 45 runs on 85 hits in the past 6 conference games.