The Official Website of the Southeastern Conference
The Official Website of the Southeastern Conference

Bulldogs take series from Vols

2253 days ago
Mississippi State Athletics

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State continued its offensive assault pounding out another 13 hits to beat Tennessee 7-4 in Southeastern Conference baseball action Sunday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.

The Bulldogs completed a three-game weekend sweep of the Volunteers. MSU improved to 15-10 overall and 3-3 in league play, while Tennessee fell to 13-8 and 0-6.

"I am proud of our guys for this effort," head coach Andy Cannizaro said. "We fought hard for 27 innings. We defended the field well, pitched it well and had some really good timely hitting. This was a tremendous weekend for us. I am fired up about this weekend. I love the direction this team is headed."

MSU collected 46 hits in the series. The Bulldogs trailed just twice in the series.

After collecting four hits in Saturday's 14-4 win, Jake Mangum hit that number again with four hits in five at-bats to lead the offensive attack. Elijah MacNamee added his first three-hit game with the Bulldogs. Brant Blaylock also had two hits.

MSU erased an early 1-0 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Mangum singled to start things. Brent Rooker followed with a two-run home run - his eighth of the season and second of the series.

Ryan Gridley followed with a triple. MacNamee brought him home on a single. Cody Brown and Luke Alexander followed with hits. An error scored the final run of the frame.

After Tennessee struck for a run on a pair of singles, MSU got those scores back with two runs in the fourth inning. A ground ball scored one run, while a single by MacNamee scored another.

An RBI-double by Mangum capped the scoring for the home team in the sixth inning.

For the series, the Bulldogs hit .406. Mangum finished with eight hits, while Gridley had seven hits. Mangum and Rooker each had six RBIs.

On the mound, the Bulldogs threw five hurlers Sunday. Mangum drew the start before being lifted with two outs in the third inning. Jacob Barton and Trysten Barlow then pitched.

Riley Self (3-0) threw 2.2 innings for the win, while Spencer Price worked the final inning getting a double play ball to nail down his sixth save.

Tennessee finished with nine hits. Jeff Moberg, Jordan Rodgers and Andre Lipcius had two hits each for the Volunteers. Zach Warren (2-2) took the loss.

The Diamond Dawgs will return to the road for a midweek matchup with Memphis on Tuesday at AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tenn. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.