Mississippi State was starting true freshman Dakota Hudson at pitcher, who was a key part of MSU's number 2 recruiting class. For the first start of his career, Hudson had a good day. His first two batters struck out, and his fourth batter flew out, ending the first inning.
Like yesterday's game, both teams started off slow, but Mississippi State found their touch in the third inning. Demarcus Henderson led off the inning with a double, and Matthew Britton followed with a walk. After two pop outs by Zach Randolph and Cody Brown, Alex Detz walked to load the bases. Big man Wes Rea stepped up to the plate next, and was hit by a pitch, advancing the runners and scoring a run. Brett Pirtle was next up, and got a 3 RBI triple to extend the Bulldog lead to 4 runs (#PirtlePower). CT Bradford was next, and pulled in a squeeze bunt, scoring Pirtle, and Bradford was safe at first. The inning ended with a 5-0 Bulldog lead after a strikeout by Reid Humphreys.
Brett Pirtle hit a 3 RBI triple in the third inning in MSU's 7-2 victory over Western Carolina
Dakota Hudson started to get rusty with the first batter of the fourth inning. Jacob Hoyle stepped up with a full count, and knocked one out of the park for a home run, cutting the Bulldog lead to 4 runs. Dale Urquhart got hit by a pitch, but Demarcus Henderson saved the Bulldogs making an incredible catch at the wall after a hit by Dykota Speiss, and then getting Urquhart out at first. The inning ended after Luke Gragg popped out, and the Bulldogs held a 5-1 advantage.
Nothing major happened, with the exception of some pitching changes by Mississippi State, until the bottom of the eighth inning. CT Bradford was the first man up for the Bulldogs, and was hit by a pitch. Bryan Sammons, the pitcher who got the save in the opening game, replaced Nate Williams at pitcher. Sammons' first two batters, Derrick Armstrong and Demarcus Henderson, both walked, loading the bases for Daniel Garner. Garner would fly out, and the Catamounts were able to get Bradford out at third, as he was too far off the bag after Garner's at bat. But, Zach Randolph was able to knock in a run with a single, scoring Derrick Armstrong. Cody Brown walked to load the bases, and then Alex Detz also walked to score Demarcus Henderson. After another pitching change, and a fly out for Wes Rea, MSU exited the eighth inning with a 7-1 advantage.
Will Cox replaced Austin Sexton in the ninth inning, trying to seal the deal for the Bulldogs. Danny Bermudez flew out, and Adam Martin struck out, leaving only Aaron Attaway for Cox. Attaway doubled, and then Bradley Strong singled, driving in Attaway, and WCU cut MSU's lead to 5. Will Cox was replaced by true freshman Vance Tatum, and he got the job done striking out Cody Jones, giving the Bulldogs the 7-2 victory, winning the opening series, and improving their record to 2-1.
The Diamond Dogs' next opponent is the Memphis Tigers, whom they defeated 12-1 last year, and they play Wednesday the 19th of February at Dudy Noble on HailStateTV.
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