No. 4 Mississippi State cruises to 19-7 win over UAB

STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 4 Mississippi State baseball pounded out 17 hits to cruise to a 19-7 win over UAB on Tuesday night at Dudy Noble Field.

MSU (28-8, 10-5 SEC) scored four runs in the first inning, three in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth, five in the fifth and four in the eighth. UAB (12-24, 5-11 C-USA) scored three runs in the second and fifth innings and one in the seventh.

Sophomore Logan Tanner led the Bulldogs with three hits, five RBIs and one run. Graduate student Scotty Dubrule was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs. Junior Luke Hancock added two hits, three RBIs and three runs, while senior Tanner Leggett finished with two hits, two RBIs and three runs.

Freshman pitcher Mikey Tepper (2-0) got the start and earned the win after a shutout first inning. The Bulldogs used 10 pitchers in total and combined to allow seven runs (six earned) on seven hits with 11 strikeouts and four walks.

UAB freshman pitcher Carson Knight (2-4) was charged with the loss and allowed seven runs on three hits with two walks in 1 ¹⁄₃ innings of work.

The Bulldogs got on the board early, scoring four runs in the first inning. Senior Tanner Allen hit a one-out double down the left-field line and sophomore Kamren James doubled to right field to score him. Tanner hit a three-run home run to make it 4-0.

The Blazers then answered with three runs in the top of the second inning. With the bases loaded and one out, sophomore Joseph Kiel drew a walk for UAB’s first run of the game. Sophomore Jess Davis then hit a two-RBI single to cut the MSU lead to one at 4-3.

In the bottom half of the second, Dubrule and Leggett drew back-to-back walks to start. They then pulled off a double steal before senior Rowdey Jordan scored Dubrule with a sacrifice fly. Allen reached first on a hit by pitch and stole second. A groundout scored Leggett before Hancock’s single through the right side scored Allen and made it 7-3.

In the bottom of the third inning, sophomore Kyte McDonald hit a one-out double to left-center and scored on Dubrule’s RBI single through the left side to increase the MSU lead to 8-3.

The Bulldogs made it a 10-3 ballgame in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to an RBI double from Tanner and an RBI groundout from senior Josh Hatcher.

In the top of the fifth inning, a three-run blast over the right-field wall from senior J Paul Fullerton made it 10-6. The Bulldogs responded with five runs in the bottom half to go up 15-6. Dubrule and Leggett led off with singles before Jordan drew a walk to load the bases. James’ sacrifice fly plated Dubrule for the first run of the inning. Hancock’s double scored two more runs before an RBI double from Tanner scored one run and freshman Kellum Clark’s RBI single made it 15-6.

In the top of the seventh inning, Fullerton recorded his fourth RBI with a sacrifice fly to score UAB’s seventh and final run of the game.

MSU wasn’t done yet and plated four more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Junior Brad Cumbest ripped a ball past the third baseman for a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Dubrule’s single to left field scored him. Leggett followed with a two-run home run to left field. Sophomore Drew McGowan then made his way to second when his pop fly dropped to the ground.Freshman Davis Meche scored him with a single up the middle to end the game’s scoring at 19-7.

The Bulldogs will now travel to Nashville, Tennessee, for a three-game series against No. 2 Vanderbilt beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be televised nationally on SEC Network.