Mississippi State 9-South Carolina 0 Game Summary
Founders Park
- Three Mississippi State pitchers combined on a seven-hit shutout while striking out 18 USC batters as the Bulldogs clinched the SEC series victory Saturday at Founders Park. The Bullies scored five runs in the fourth and, and except for one bases-loaded situation, the Gamecocks never really threatened.
- It’s the third time the Gamecocks have been shut out this season, the first time at home since last May, and it’s the fifth shutout of the season by Mississippi State pitching.
- USC starter Amp Phillips allowed one hit thru the first three innings. However, he dropped a toss at first for an error to open the fourth, and the floodgates opened for the Bulldogs. A three-run homer was the big blow in a five run inning in which the Bulldogs batted around.
- Mississippi State added a run in the sixth and three more in the eighth, including a two run homer. That’s six homers in two games for the Bulldog lineup.
- Duke Stone (6-1) pitched the first six innings for Mississippi State and struck out a season high 12. He allowed five hits and walked three. He came with an ERA over 5.00 in SEC games with teams hitting .301 against him. Chris Billingsley and Dane Burns finished up and struck out six while allowing three hits and walking one.
- The Gamecocks got runners to second in both the first and fourth innings, and loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but the clutch hit was not forthcoming. The Gamecocks were 1-19 with runners on base, and 0-6 with runners in scoring position.
- Phillips pitched four complete innings and took the loss to fall to 3-5. He allowed five runs on six hits, but only three of the runs were earned. He struck out three and walked one. Three of the four USC relievers were effective. John Gunther was touched for three runs in his one-third of an inning of work.
- The loss drops USC to 19-21 overall and 5-12 in the SEC. The 17th ranked Bulldogs improve to 29-10 and 9-8.
- USC will start Alex Valentin in Sunday’s finale against lefthander Charlie Foster.
