STARKVILLE – Mississippi State is 1-0 in the Brian O’Connor era.
The No. 4-ranked Diamond Dawgs took Game One of their opening series against Hofstra on Friday,
The visitors from Long Island outhit the Bulldogs 10-3, but discipline at the plate and strong performances from the pitching staff saw MSU overcome a 2-0 deficit to win 6-5.
MSU starter Ryan McPherson came out throwing heat, recording six pitches clocked at 98 miles per hour in the first inning and striking out four through the first six batters. Hofstra got on the board first with a two-RBI single in the fourth, but MSU found an answer with their first rally on the second trip through the batting order.
Ace Reese got the first hit of the season for the Bulldogs with a one-out single into right, and Aidan Teel joined him on base with a walk. Reed Stallman, whom head coach Brian O’Connor named as someone impressing at the plate in preseason, got the first score of the season on a two-RBI drive. He would end up giving MSU the lead in the same inning, stealing home on a wild pitch before Ryder Woodson did the same on a throwing error to give State a 4-2 lead through four innings.
Duke Stone took over for McPherson at the top of the fifth, striking out his first two batters. He would give up a run on a hit by Danny Corona, but the inning would end there as the Hofstra first baseman tried for a base too far. Reese caught a timely throw from Teel in center field to tag out Corona and keep MSU in front by one run.
The Bulldogs would add two more runs in the fifth with some disciplined at-bats. Four straight walks and a balk saw Reese and Teel get home to make it 6-3 MSU while burning through another reliever for the visitors.
Another run for the Pride led to Ben Davis coming out of the bullpen, providing two excellent innings of work for the Bulldogs. He struck out three of the six batters faced to post two zeroes on the board and keep the game moving into the ninth with a lead intact.
Davis got into a jam in the ninth inning after hitting the first batter and seeing another drive a double into deep center. A sacrifice fly put the visitors just one run from pulling level with two outs, but Davis kept his cool to get the final strikeout.
MSU and Hofstra will meet again for Game Two on Saturday at noon. Game Three will follow 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
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