MSU Baseball Wins On Walk-Off To Even Series

STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) –
All-American juniors Ross Mitchell and Jonathan
Holder combined for a two-hit shutout as Seth Heck’s walk-off single
in the bottom of the 10th lifted No. 18 Mississippi State to a 1-0 win
against Tennessee in front of 7,321 at Dudy Noble Field Saturday night.
The Bulldogs improved to 32-19 overall and 15-11 in Southeastern
Conference play, while the Vols dropped to 29-19 and 11-15 in league
action.

Deadlocked in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 10th, senior
outfielder C.T. Bradford celebrated Senior Day with a first-pitch
leadoff double to the wall in right field. Following a sacrifice bunt by
fellow senior Alex Detz, senior Brett Pirtle was intentionally walked,
putting runners at first and third base with one out. On a full count,
Heck sliced a chopper over the third baseman’s head to left field for
the walk-off single.

Mitchell tossed his team-leading seventh quality start of the season in
the no decision, tying his career high as a starter with five strikeouts
in 6.1 stanzas. The southpaw extended his shutout streak to
15.1-consecutive innings.  Holder finished off the game with a
career-high tying seven strikeouts, improving to 5-1 on the year in 3.2
innings of work.

Tennessee starter Nick Williams tossed a career-long nine shutout
innings, before reliever Kyle Serrano suffered the loss (3-3) in the
final frame.

Offensively for MSU, Heck (2-for-5) extended his career-high hitting
streak to 11 games, while Pirtle (2-for-4) prolonged his streak to
56-straight games of reaching base safely against SEC opponents.
Freshman All-American candidate Gavin Collins also tallied multiple hits
on the night (2-for-4).

As a whole, Butch Thompson’s pitching staff has recorded 44 shutout
frames in its last 46 innings, including three shutouts over the last
five games (all SEC contests). Having already clinched a spot in the
2014 SEC Tournament, the Bulldogs Saturday clinched a .500 conference
record for the third-straight year for the first time since 1999-2011.
The 15-11 start is the best under current head coach John Cohen and the
best since the 2006 squad started 16-10.

The rubber game in the series takes place Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Dudy
Noble Field. The game will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network
and HailStateTV.com.