ATLANTA — The Mississippi State baseball team never claimed to be explosive.
On Saturday, MSU used a seven-run fourth inning to beat Austin Peay State 8-3 and clinch a spot in the title game of the NCAA tournament”s Atlanta Regional.
The fourth-inning outburst was the Bulldogs” biggest of the season since they scored 10 runs against South Alabama in the seventh inning May 2.
The eight runs were the most MSU has scored since an 8-3 victory against the University of Memphis on May 17.
The eight runs scored before the fifth inning were the most since the Bulldogs scored 14 in four innings against Alabama A&M on March 30 — 32 games ago.
Third-seeded MSU (36-23) will face the winner of the Georgia Tech-Austin Peay game at 2 p.m. today at 6 p.m. If MSU loses, it will play again at 6 p.m. Monday.
Georgia Tech ousted Southern Mississippi in the early game Saturday.
“It”s awesome because we need everybody swinging it well,” MSU second baseman Nick Vickerson said. “We”ve had nights where Jarrod may swing it well and I”m not, and it”s tough to win like that. But when you have a couple of guys swing it well, it”s a special thing. To have a couple of guys get hot, that”s gonna be good for us down the road.”
The Bulldogs improved to 26-1 this season when they score six or more runs.
MSU coach John Cohen said that while assistant coaches Nick Mingione and Lane Burroughs often remind him of the overwhelming statistic, he hasn”t put too much stock into it.
“You just score as much as you can,” Cohen said. “I think there are big numbers too when we score first. Every game has its limit and ceiling on how many you”re gonna score. You just want to get to that number, whatever it is.”
Vickerson went 1-for-2 and drew a game-high three walks. He got the Bulldogs on the board in the first with an RBI double, his team-high 16th of the year. He has driven in a team-high eight runs in the past five games, and has six extra-base hits in that span.
The Bulldogs looked to get the offense churning after Vickerson got the Bulldogs on the board, but Jonathan Ogden left three runners stranded in the first and three more in the bottom of the third.
MSU wouldn”t falter with two outs in the fourth, as five of its seven runs came with two outs.
The Bulldogs did their damage against three pitchers, including starter and ace Jeremy Dobbs, who left the game after giving up an RBI triple to CT Bradford and a sacrifice fly RBI to Cody Freeman.
Dobbs, who developed a blister on his middle finger of his pitching hand, left after throwing 87 pitches. He allowed three earned runs on five hits, struck out three, walked three, and hit two batters.
“It”s the very first time (with a blister),” Dobbs said. “I felt it in the bullpen but thought it would be fine. The slider the lefty pulled down the line (by Bradford), I felt it pop, and from there it was really hard to throw.”
Dobbs left with two outs and no runners on board, but Chuck Edlin walked the first two batters he faced before Jaron Shepherd rocketed a single off his leg to bring in Parks from second. On the play, Parks slid head-first into home and collided with catcher Matt Wollenzin, who stayed down in pain after the play and prompted a visit to home plate form Governors manager Gary McClure, who was tossed for arguing the call.
“I think (McClure) felt like he had the plate blocked,” APSU assistant coach Joel Mangrum said. “It was a tough throw to handle, and (Wollenzin) did everything he could to keep run from getting there. I felt like coach Mac thought he was doing everything he could.”
After that, the floodgates opened.
Ogden, with the bases loaded for the third time, singled down the right-field line to make it 5-0 before Collins, who”d been moved from the second hole to the eighth spot, came through with a two-run single to left.
Catcher Wes Thigpen capped the inning with an RBI single.
“Every at-bat is a grind,” Ogden said. “I was hard on myself, leaving six guys on base in my first two at-bats. You just stay focused.”
MSU got another solid start from freshman Evan Mitchell, who earned the win after pitching eight innings. The Marietta, Ga., native surrendered three earned runs on five hits, struck out eight, and walked five.
He came out to start the ninth as he attempted clinch the first complete game of his career, but he walked two and loaded the bases for freshman reliever Daryl Norris.
Mitchell came out to a standing ovation from the MSU-dominated crowd.
“The fact he carried us through eight innings and we only had to use two guys tonight is huge,” Cohen said.
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