Mississippi State Sweeps Shriner’s College Classic

Mississippi State downed Sam Houston State 4-1 to clinch a sweep of the Shriner’s College Classic.

The Diamond Dawg offense got things going early, as they scored three runs in the top of the first inning.

Tanner Allen tripled to right center, which brought home Jake Mangum, who reached on an infield single. Luke Alexander singled and brought home Allen to make it 2-0 in favor of MSU. A four pitch walk with the bases loaded by Tanner Poole gave the Diamond Dawgs a 3-0 lead after just the first inning.

The Diamond Dawgs added an insurance run in the seventh inning after a wild pitch plated Alexander, and gave MSU a 4-0 lead. The lead was never in doubt, as a trio of pitchers kept Sam Houston State in check.

The Bearkats lone run came in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Jaxxon Grisham.

Jacob Billingsley (1-0) pitched six innings, and allowed no runs on just five hits. He struck out six batters and walked two. Keegan James pitched 1.2 innings of relief, and allowed one run on two hits. He struck out one batter and walked one batter. Cole Gordon got the save after pitching 1.1 innings and struck out two batters.

Seth Ballew (0-1) was charged with the loss for Sam Houston State. He pitched 5.2 innings, and allowed three runs—all earned—on eight hits. He walked six batters and struck out two.

The Diamond Dawgs sweep came from a 3-1 win over Louisiana on Friday, a 3-2 win over Houston on Saturday and the 4-1 win over Sam Houston State on Sunday.

Mississippi State will return to Starkville for their home opener on March 6 against New Mexico State with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch.