May 22, 2014
HOOVER, ALA. – Four runs in the first four innings followed by an eight-run seventh inning lifted 17th ranked Mississippi State to a 12-0 win over sixth ranked South Carolina on Wednesday night in SEC Tournament action. Mississippi State is now 37-20 with South Carolina dropping to 42-15 for the year. The Gamecocks will be back in action vs. top seeded Florida in an elimination game on Thursday that will begin 30 minutes following the conclusion of the 10:30 a.m. ET contest. It will be televised live on SportSouth and can be heard on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”
Mississippi State reliever Jacob Lindgren worked four perfect innings of relief with six strikeouts to pick up the win. He is now 6-1 on the year. South Carolina starter Jordan Montgomery suffered the loss and is now 7-5 on the year. He worked 3.1 innings and allowed four runs on six hits with four walks and a strikeout.
“It has been a long time since I have had my tail kicked like that,” said South Carolina head coach Chad Holbrook. “They obviously played a great game and we didn’t. The first three innings really set the tone for us. From a fundamental standpoint, the first three innings were not very good. The saving grace for us was that it was only one game.”
Mississippi State took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Wes Rea led off with a walk. A sac bunt by Demarcus Henderson, a single to left field by Reid Humphreys and a chopper for a base hit by Derrick Armstrong over Pankake’s head at third base would lead to the first run for the Bulldogs. Carolina escaped further damage turning a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Matthew Britton to limit the damage.
The Bulldogs would add two more in the third inning to extend the lead to three runs. A one-out single by C.T. Bradford followed by walks to Brett Pirtle and Gavin Collins loaded the bases. Wes Rea’s fielder’s choice scored Bradford and a two-out single from DeMarcus Henderson brought home Pirtle. Mississippi State increased the lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning.
Taylor Widener would come on in relief and retired seven straight batters before Mississippi State touched him for three runs in the seventh inning. Seth Heck singled as did C.T. Bradford which set the stage for Brett Pirtle who hit a three-run homer to right field to give Mississippi State a 7-0 lead. A fielder’s choice and throwing error would lead to a run for the Bulldogs. That was followed up by a two-out RBI single from Derrick Armstrong. Added to that was a two-out double off the bat of Seth Heck and a walk with the bases loaded to pinch hitter Jack Vickerson that pushed the Mississippi State lead to 12 runs.
Mississippi State had 14 hits with Heck and Bradford each with three hits and two runs scored. Henderson and Armstrong had two apiece as well.
