The Mississippi State baseball team handled business in the opener of its own regional on Friday afternoon.
While it wasn’t a 26-0 beatdown as was the case the last time the two teams played, the Bulldogs handled Lipscomb 10-1. Apart from a run allowed in the final inning of play, it was a relatively seamless outing for those in maroon and white.
How it happened
Duke Stone (7-3) was lights out on the mound, striking out 10 Bisons across six scoreless innings, and Jacob Parker led the offense in his NCAA Tournament debut.
Parker, a freshman who opted for college ball after being drafted in the 19th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks almost a year ago, lined an RBI single through the right side in the fourth inning before coming back to the plate in the sixth and knocking one out of the park. It was his 14th home run of the season.
Mississippi State scored three in the fourth, added another in the sixth with the Parker home run, and broke the game open with a five-run seventh – all while keeping Lipscomb scoreless. The Bisons broke onto the board in the ninth when Blake Carter delivered an RBI single off Bulldog reliever Jack Gleason.
Apart from Parker, Vytas Valincius (3 hits, 2 RBI) and Ace Reese (2 hits, 1 RBI) were the only Mississippi State players to have multi-hit outings. Gehrig Frei hit a home run in the sixth inning, his 10th of the season. The team combined for 10 hits while drawing five walks. Lipscomb, on the other hand, had six hits and drew two walks.
Next up
Mississippi State advances to the winner’s bracket and will play the winner of 2-seed Cincinnati and 3-seed Louisiana on Saturday at 8 p.m. Lipscomb, the 4-seed, will try to stave off elimination when it plays the loser of that game on Saturday at 3 p.m.
