PEARL — Senior left-hander Brett Bukvich struck out a career-high 11 batters and did not walk one on the way to Most Valuable Player honors as he helped Ole Miss beat Mississippi State 8-1 to claim the Governor”s Cup.
The fifth largest crowd in Trustmark Park history (7,458) watched Bukvich (5-1) pitch six innings and allow only one run on five hits with no walks as Ole Miss (26-10) claimed the annual non-conference contest between Southeastern Conference rivals.
“I thought Bukvich did a terrific job tonight,” said Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco. “He really only got into trouble one or two times, and did a tremendous job. He is a senior from this area who can understand and appreciate this game. It was nice to see him perform so well in a last hurrah so to speak.”
Ricky Bowen (2-2) was the losing pitcher for Mississippi State (19-18) as he allowed two runs on two hits with two walks and no strikeouts in an inning on the mound. The Bulldogs used five pitchers.
Ole Miss scored first in the bottom of the first inning when Jordan Henry scored on a single up the middle by Matt Smith. Henry walked to lead off the game and moved to second on a walk of Logan Power before scoring on Smith”s hit.
Mississippi State tied the score 1-1 in the second when Scott DeLoach scored on a groundout to short by Jet Butler. DeLoach tripled off the wall to open the inning.
But that was it for Mississippi State as it failed to score the rest of the game.
Ole Miss” Zach Miller broke the tie in the second when he scored from first on a double down the left field line by Michael Hubbard. Miller was hit by a pitch to reach base.
Ole Miss scored two runs in the fourth on a two-run double by Kevin Mort, scoring Miller and Hubbard.
The Rebels scored three more runs in the fifth. Logan Power opened with a double and scored on a single by Matt Snyder. Two outs later, Miller was hit by a pitch and back-to-back singles from Hubbard and Mort scored Snyder and Miller to give the Rebels a 7-1 lead.
Ole Miss scored its final run in the sixth when Henry scored on a bases loaded single from pinch-hitter David Phillips to give the Rebels an 8-1 advantage.
Mississippi State returns to Southeastern Conference action this weekend when the Bulldogs host Kentucky as part of Super Bulldog Weekend. Gaame times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Dudy Noble Field.
Ole Miss will return to action this weekend with a three-game series at Florida. First pitch of Friday”s contest is set for 5:30 p.m.
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