SEC Article.....MSU vs. USC

[Greenhead22]

http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&u ... _well_id=2

#7 Mississippi State 6, #6 South Carolina 2

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -- Jeff hit a two-run stand-up triple to spark a five-run inning and lead Mississippi State to a 6-2 victory over South Carolina Thursday night in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

The victory sends the seventh-seeded Bulldogs (38-20) into Saturday's semifinals of the double-elimination tournament without a loss and gives the team a day off on Friday.

One day after Alan Johnson allowed two runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings in a 9-2 first-round victory over second-seeded LSU, Todd Doolittle (5-7) struck out a career-high 13 batters and came within one out of pitching his second complete-game shutout of the season.

After allowing two runs, one earned run, five hits, two walks and hitting one batter, Doolittle left the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when a fielding error by third baseman Thomas Berkery allowed South Carolina's first run.

Mike Valentine then came on in relief to get the final out for the Bulldogs, but not before a throwing error by Berkery allowed another South Carolina run to score.

The Bulldogs supported their pitcher with early runs for the second consecutive day. his his two-run triple in the second inning. Jeffrey Rea finished with two RBI on three hits.

Sixth-seeded South Carolina (38-20) plays Tennessee in the loser's bracket on Friday at 1:30 p.m.


POSTGAME QUOTES

South Carolina Head Coach Ray Tanner
"I thought Doolittle pitched an outstanding ball game tonight. He kept his pitches up in the strike zone, and when you are playing in a park this size you can get away with that. We had some poor at-bats early, and they had the big inning in the second. We made a couple of mistakes in the inning which led to their five spot. If we had given up two or three, I think we could have been OK and battled back. It's hard to come back from five down, especially when you face a pitcher like that."

Stephen Tolleson, Shortstop
"He (Todd Doolittle) kept us off-balance with his pitching tonight. He was able to throw up in the strike zone, and in a park like this those become long fly outs instead of extra-base hits. He was able to make us chase some bad pitches and really didn't let us get into a zone all night. He made it a difficult night for us at the plate."

Mississippi State Head Coach Ron Polk
"I think that our five run 2nd inning was very similar to what we did yesterday against LSU. We just got the runs and kept rolling along at a great pace. Zac (McCamie) had good stuff all night for South Carolina. The run we got in the 7th made me happy, and I am sure it made the boys happy. Todd (Doolittle) was the key for us tonight. After we got up five runs, he was able to settle in and strike out a career high 13 guys. He became tired at the end and we had a hard time closing out, so I brought in Mike (Valentine). Overall I am very proud of our guys on a good ballgame."

Todd Doolittle, Pitcher
"My fastball was the key to my game tonight. I had probably 60 percent of my strikeouts come from my fastball. The five run 2nd inning was huge for me, and gave me a comfort zone. However, toward the end I ran out of gas. I was glad when coach pulled me and brought Mike (Valentine) in to get us out of the game. We knew coming in that a win tonight meant a day off tomorrow and that was our motivation for tonight."


POSTGAME NOTES

* Mississippi State pitcher Todd Doolittle, in his first SEC tournament appearance, recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts (previous high, 8 at Georgia April 16, 2005)
* South Carolina pitcher Zac McCamie struck out his 100th batter this season, the 24th time a Gamecock pitcher has recorded 100 strikeouts in a season
* Mississippi State is now tied with South Carolina 20-20 in the all-time series, and is 6-1 in the SEC tournament against the Gamecocks
* South Carolina third baseman Neil Giesler extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single
* Mississippi State recorded their 50th win in the SEC tournament, most of any school in the SEC
* South Carolina falls to 4-16 this season when giving up more than six runs
* The last time the Bulldogs and Gamecocks met in the SEC tournament was 2001. Mississippi State took a 1-0 decision and advanced to the championship game, where they beat LSU 4-1 to win the tournament
* Mississippi State improves their tournament record to 50-40, while South Carolina falls to 18-22