MSU Streaks to 11-1 Baseball Victory; Game 2 at 1 p.m.
Mississippi State def. LSU, 11-1
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Audio 54 Baseball vs. Mississippi State (Game 1)
Courtesy: LSU Sports Information
LSU's Michael Hollander
BATON ROUGE -- Top-ranked Mississippi State launched three consecutive homers as part of a four-run second inning, and left-hander Brooks Dunn limited No. 14 LSU to one run as the Tigers fell by a score of 11-1 Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU (18-6, 1-3) has lost four out of its last six games. The Bulldogs (18-0, 3-0) are off to their best start in school history and still remain as the only undefeated team in the nation.
Game 2 of the series is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday. MSU will send junior right-hander Josh Johnson (4-0, 1.42) to the mound. Head coach Smoke Laval will counter with junior southpaw Clay Dirks (3-2, 2.53). Dirks was unavailable Friday night after recovering from flu-like symptoms.
The audio broadcast, streaming video and live stats for Saturday's are available in the Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies on
http://www.LSUsports.net.
Dunn (5-0) maintained his perfect record, limiting LSU to a run on five hits in 7.1 innings of work Friday. Right fielder Quinn Stewart and shortstop Michael Hollander each had two of the five hits.
"When you get a little bit of lead, you have to keep it close because it is hard to put a big inning against him," said Laval. "He throws downhill, but he's not a power pitcher. Once he gets the lead, he's very good. He can throw a 3-2 changeup in the zone and so forth."
LSU pitchers allowed a season-high 18 hits, four homers and 11 runs, which resulted in LSU's largest margin of defeat since dropping a 15-4 decision to Mississippi State in 2002.
Left-hander Daniel Forrer (1-1) took the loss after allowing six runs and all three homers in the second inning. The junior surrendered eight hits, walked two and struck out three in 6.1 innings.
Forrer benefited from a double play in the first and nearly survived the second with another twin killing, but the Bulldogs mounted a two-out rally with back-to-back-to-back homers.
Right fielder Matt Richardson connected on a two-run shot over the right field wall, scoring first baseman Brad Jones who was hit by a pitch. Two pitches later, third baseman Michael Rutledge deposited Forrer's offering off the scoreboard.
Left fielder Jeff Butts then completed the barrage with a solo blast into the left field bleachers.
The 4-0 advantage would be enough run support for Dunn, who one-hit the Tigers through five innings.
LSU finally pushed a run across in the seventh as pinch hitter Will Harris provided an RBI with a fielder's choice groundball that scored first baseman Jordan Mayer.
Aaron Weatherford spelled Dunn in the eighth, and the right-hander contributed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.
MSU punctuated the victory with another four-run frame in the ninth, highlighted by pinch hitter Brian LaNinfa's two-run homer off reliever Nolan Cain.
Mississippi State 11, LSU 1 (Mar 24, 2006 at Baton Rouge, La.)
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Mississippi State... 040 100 204 - 11 18 0 (18-0, 3-0 SEC)
LSU...................... 000 000 100 - 1 6 0 (18-6, 1-3 SEC)
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Pitchers: Mississippi State - Dunn; Weatherford( 8 ). LSU - Forrer; Cain(7); Cahill(9).
Win-Dunn(5-0) Loss-Forrer(1-1) T-2:51 A-7798
HR MSU - LaNinfa (1); Richardson (1); Rutledge (2); Butts (3).
Actual attendance: 3,596
