MSU Baseball Breaks Scoreless Streak, Wins Finale Against Auburn

STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – Mississippi State second baseman John Holland put an end to the scoreless streak with a second-inning home run.

Vince Tatum and Trevor Fitts then took things the rest of the way. The duo combined on a four-hitter as MSU knocked off Auburn 3-1 in the final game of a three-game Southeastern Conference series at Dudy Noble Field.

“We did enough,” MSU head coach John Cohen said. “The guys needed a win to feel a little better about things. We had some nice at-bats and all-around played well today. Hopefully, this will be a jump-start and we can get some things going in the right direction.”

MSU improved to 19-11 overall and 3-6 in league play, while Auburn fell to 17-11 and 3-6. The Bulldogs have managed one victory apiece in their first three conference series this year.

Auburn won the first two games in the series by shutout and MSU actually had a string of 29 scoreless innings before Holland slammed his first home run down the right field line in the second inning.

Auburn evened the game in the third inning when designated hitter Keegan Thompson hit his first career home run.

In the sixth inning, Gavin Collins got things started for MSU with a leadoff single. Wes Rea followed with an RBI-triple off the base of the outfield wall. Ryan Gridley made it three straight hits with an RBI-single scoring Rea.

MSU finished with nine hits, including a career-high matching three hits from Holland. Rea also had multiple hits.

“It looked like we weren’t as rushed at the plate,” Cohen said. “More discipline at what we were trying to do. We didn’t score a lot of runs but we had better at-bats.”

Tatum drew the start and worked 4.2 innings, allowing three hits and a run, with two strikeouts and two walks. With two runners on, Fitts came in in the fifth inning and got a groundball out to snuff that threat.

Fitts retired the final eight he faced as Auburn managed one base runner – on the team’s fourth hit – over the final four frames.

“Vance gave us a great start,” Cohen said. “We got him because (Anfernee Grier) is a great hitter and this was his third at-bat of the game. Trevor came in and threw great. He was a Bulldog on the mound and we really needed that today.”

Melvin Gray had multiple hits for the Tigers. Trey Wingenter (1-3), the fourth of seven Auburn pitchers in the contest, took the loss.

MSU will play at South Alabama at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.