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Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State Wins Series Finale in Extras to Complete Sweep

Bulldogs baseball secured a 4-3 extra-inning win to sweep South Carolina, improving to 30-10 with four SEC series remaining.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State players celebrate a first inning home run by Kevin Milewski in a 17-7 run-rule victory over Vanderbilt.
Mississippi State players celebrate a first inning home run by Kevin Milewski in a 17-7 run-rule victory over Vanderbilt. | Mississippi State Athletics

There’s one month left in the college baseball regular season, and Mississippi State is in a good position.

The Bulldogs are 30-10 overall, 10-8 in SEC play, ranked No. 17 in the major polls, and entered the weekend at No. 22 in NCAA RPI. Forget how Mississippi State got here for a moment and ask yourself: if someone told you this is where the Bulldogs would sit with four SEC series left, would you take it. Probably.

Viewed through that lens, the picture is pretty favorable and what Mississippi State showed this weekend at South Carolina backed it up.

The Bulldogs finished off a sweep Sunday with a 4-3 win in 11 innings. Charlie Foster gave them a quality start, working seven innings and allowing three runs on six hits. Ben Davis and Maddox Webb followed with two hits allowed between them.

What kept the game tight was the offense cooling off. Mississippi State had 10 hits and plenty of traffic but couldn’t convert consistently, going 4-for-17 with runners on and 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position. A stark contrast from the first two games.

We did get just enough. The wind was blowing in pretty good. So, you had to hit line drives and hard ground balls. Blake Bevis was able to get a ball out, he put a charge into that one. It didn't matter how hard the wind might have been blowing. That ball was going out. He had another big day for us, three RBI day, and really stepped up for this team.
Brian O'Connor, Mississippi State Coach

The important part is they eventually found the run they needed. Vytas Valincius led off the 11th with a full-count single, and Sanders pinch-ran his way to third on Aidan Teel’s single up the middle. Ryder Woodson’s bunt turned into an infield single thanks to one of South Carolina’s two errors, loading the bases for Kevin Mileski, who delivered a sacrifice fly to give Mississippi State the lead.

Webb handled the bottom half with a clean three up, three down inning to secure the sweep.

The Bulldogs looked great in the first two games and were good enough to win the finale. Hard to ask for much more.

Pitching Decisions

  • WP: Maddox Webb (1-1), 2.2 IP, 1 BB, 3 SO, 34 TP
  • LP: Zach Russell (3-1), 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 SO, 32 TP

Mississippi State Batting Lineup

  • Blake Bevis: 1-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR
  • Vytas Valincius: 3-5
  • Bryce Chance: 2-6
  • Ace Reese: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB

Next Up

Mississippi State returns to Dudy Noble Field where it hasn’t had many struggles winning midweek games this season. The Bulldogs are set to face Memphis at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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