By Will Knight
Special to the Dispatch
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State completed a perfect Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field, picking up wins against Mississippi Valley State and Kansas.
Monster fourth and fifth innings gave the Diamond Dawgs the 13-5 advantage over the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State during the early game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Mississippi Valley (0-5) struck first in game number one for the Bulldogs. The Delta Devils posted three runs in the first three frames, while Mississippi State had only one run through the first three innings.
The momentum-changer for the Bulldogs came in the form of a five-run fourth inning. Designated hitter Trey Porter led off the inning with a bruising hit-by-pitch. The Bulldogs had eight hit batsmen on the day between the two games. First baseman Wes Rea then drilled a double down the left field line and moved Porter to third.
With runners on second and third, Hunter Renfroe walked which loaded up the bases for senior Brent Brownlee. With a 1-0 count, Brownlee cracked a single to left and brought Porter across for a score. The Diamond Dawgs would score four more in the combination of a sacrifice fly from Sam Frost, a double from Mitch Slauter and a well-placed ground ball to first from C.T. Bradford.
Mississippi State (5-1) had similar success in the fifth inning. Porter led off with a single up the middle. Rea followed with a double to left center. After an odd sacrifice fly to the Delta Devil shortstop by Renfroe, runs for the Diamond Dawgs came in the form of a single, double and a bases loaded walk after a pitching change by Mississippi Valley.
The Diamond Dawgs led 13-3 after the fifth inning and would not score again. Valley attempted a comeback late in the eighth inning, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.
Offensive leaders for the Bulldogs during game one of the doubleheader were Rea with three hits and Frazier with two hits.
Kendall Graveman started the game and pitched four innings, gave up three runs on five hits and had no strikeouts.
Trevor Fitts also did a good amount of work on the mound for the Bulldogs. He also threw for four innings, gave up two runs on five hits and struck out four Delta Devils. Jacob Lindgren and Tanner Gaines also saw action on the mound.
“As a team, we played very well today,” Frazier said. “For both games, it took us a little while to get rolling, but we played well together in all aspects of the game.”
Game two of the Diamond Dawg double-header began as a pitching duel between Bulldog starter Nick Routt and Jayhawk starter Thomas Taylor.
“We were really pleased with the way Nick Routt threw the ball today,” head coach John Cohen said. “He really commanded it well.”
Kansas (4-2) came across home plate first in the contest in the fourth inning. Cohen decided to go to the bullpen and pulled out Evan Mitchell to relieve Routt. Mitchell shut down the Jayhawks for the rest of his time in the game.
“Kansas is a great team,” Mitchell said. “They have a lot of good hitters on their team and a lot of power throughout their lineup. I feel like I have a baseball fairy with me because they’re hitting line drives and I’m getting double plays, so it worked out for me tonight.”
Mississippi State finally got on the board in the seventh and eighth innings. After two walks issued by Jayhawk pitcher Jordan Luvisi, sophomore second baseman Adam Frazier singled to left center to bring in teammate Taylor Stark across to score.
With the game tied and Matthew Britton in scoring position, Bradford stepped up to the plate for the Bulldogs. Bradford hit a routine fly ball to third that went off the heel of Jayhawk third baseman Zac Elgie’s glove and brought Britton home for the go-ahead run for the Diamond Dawgs.
“Whatever it takes,” said Mitchell in reference to the error by Elgie that led to the go-ahead run for the Bulldogs. “As long as we are ahead at the end I’m fine with that.”
The men in maroon struck again in the following inning with a single from third baseman Daryl Norris that brought home Frost from second.
Preseason All-American Caleb Reed came into the contest during the eighth inning to close it out for the Bulldogs.
Offensive leaders for the Bulldogs during game two of the double-header were Daryl Norris and Adam Frazier, each with two hits.
Nick Routt threw for four and a third innings against the Jayhawks and allowed one run on six hits and struck out five. Evan Mitchell threw 2.2 innings and allowed only two hits and struck out two. Caleb Reed closed out the game with four strikeouts in two innings.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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