Mississippi State Falls In SEC Opener

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State fell in its Southeastern Conference opener against Vanderbilt at Duby Noble Field on Friday in game one of a three-game series against the Commodores.

The Diamond Dawgs (10-8, 0-1 SEC) fell to the Commodores (13-5, 1-0 SEC) 3-0 in the first of three games.

MSU got another good outing from starting pitcher Konnor Pilkington, but the offense just couldn’t get things going.

Vanderbilt got the scoring going in the third inning by scoring two runs on a triple by Pat DeMarco. DeMarco reached home on an error in the outfield to take a 2-0 lead. They then scored two more runs in the sixth inning after a fielding error by Luke Alexander. A wild pitch allowed Vanderbilt to push its lead to 5-0 after seven frames.

MSU’s offense was held to just five hits on the night, Justin Foscue had two of them.

Pilkington (1-2) was charged with the loss for the Diamond Dawgs. He pitched six solid innings, allowing four runs—two earned—on seven hits. He struck out eight batters, and walked just one batter.

Keegan James pitched the final three innings, allowing three hits and an earned run, with two strikeouts and a walk.

Drake Fellows (3-0) earned the win for the Commodores. He pitched six shutout innings on three hits allowed. He struck out seven batters, and walked five. Zach King earned the save for Vanderbilt after pitching the final three innings.

The Bulldogs and Commodores will continue their series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. CT first pitch from Dudy Noble.