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After a weak pitching performance led to an 8-2 loss on Friday, Mississippi State responded in a big way, defeating Florida 10-4 on Saturday.
Austin Sexton started for the Bulldogs and had an okay showing. He was rolling through the Gator lineup through the first two innings, facing six batters and retiring all of them. But, he found himself in a hole after that point. Sexton gave up a three run home run in the 3rd and was faced with a predicament in the 5th, loading the bases with no outs. At that point, he was replaced, finishing his outing pitching 4 innings, giving up eight hits, three runs, and striking out two.
Sexton was replaced by Ryan Rigby, who dealt all the way through. Rigby got out of that bases loaded jam in the 5th unscathed, forcing a double play and striking a man out, which gave him (and the entire team) the confidence boost it so desperately needed. Without a doubt, this performance was Rigby's best of the year, as he gave up just four hits, one run, and struck out four in 5 innings of work.
On the other side of things, the bats couldn't be tamed. Similar to Friday's game, Mississippi State got out to a hot start, taking a 4-0 lead after the 1st inning. The Bulldog bats continued to produce in the 3rd. After a Nate Lowe double, a Gavin Collins single, and a Reid Humphreys walk, Cody Brown stepped up to the plate and launched a grand slam to right center, which is his second slam of the season (game one against Oregon). It didn't stop there. After Hunter Stovall reached on a fielder's choice, Jake Mangum (or as we here at FWtCT like to call him, Mangum, P.I.) tripled to drive in Stovall and give State a 9-0 advantage. State didn't score again until the 9th, but all in all, it was an insanely great day at the plate for Mississippi State.
In addition to all of this, the win on Saturday snapped a 29 game home winning streak for Florida, which was the longest in school history.
The #5 Bulldogs improve to 22-9-1, 7-4 and will look to take the series from the #1 Gators on Sunday at 3:00 PM.