Mississippi State Baseball Takes Series Against No. 1 Florida

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Diamond Dawgs had another solid night hitting the ball. 12 hits fueled a 12-4 win over No. 1 Florida Friday night at Dudy Noble Field.

With the win, MSU improved to 30-24 (14-15 SEC), while Florida fell to 41-14 (20-9 SEC). The win also snaps a streak of 19 straight series wins by Florida.

State is now 8-1 against Top-10 opponents this season

The Diamond Dawgs scored two runs in each of the first three innings to hold a 6-2 lead. Jake Mangum began the inning reaching first after he was hit by a pitch. Rowdey Jordan followed with a single. After a strikeout, both runners moved up on a balk and then reached home after Hunter Stovall singled.

The Gators tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the second after JJ Schwarz drew a walk, Wil Dalton doubled and Austin Langworthy hit a sac-fly to score Schwarz. The othe run came after Blake Reese doubled and scored Dalton.

The Dawgs broke the tie with two more runs in the second inning. Jordan Westburg singled and later scored on a Mangum double. A muffed throw plated Mangum and gave MSU a 4-2 lead.

In the third inning, the Diamond Dawgs increased the lead to 6-2 on a two-run single by Luke Alexander.

Florida added a run in the fourth inning when Langworthy hit a solo home run to right center.

State busted the game wide open in the fifth inning, scoring six runs. Elijah MacNamee began the inning with a leadoff single. Alexander then reached after being hit by a pitch. Josh Hatcher then moved both runners up a base on a sacrifice bunt. Marshall Gilbert then drewa walk. A wild pitch scored MacNamee and then Jordan followed with a two-run single to make it 9-3 in favor of the Dawgs. Allen ended the big inning with a three-run home run to right field to increase the lead to 12-3.

Florida added a final run in the eighth inning when Dalton doubled and later scored on a fielder’s choice.

MSU held the hits advantage 12-9. Allen lead the Dawgs with three hits. Jordan and MacNamee added two hits apiece.

Ethan Small drew the start on the ound for the Diamond dawgs. He pitched 4.1 innings, allowing three runs, all earned, on five hits. He struck out six batters and walke dtwo.

JP France (4-3) earned the win while pitching the final 4.2 innings. France allowed four hits and one unearned run on four hits. He had six strikeouts and a walk.

Jack Leftwich (4-4) was charged with the Gator loss. He pitched the first three innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on eight hits. He added seven strikeouts.

The series will conclude today from Dudy Noble with a 3:30 p.m. CT start on ESPNU.