MSU smokes St. Joe’s

Mississippi State sophomore left-hander Jacob Lindgren threw seven innings of shut out baseball as the Bulldogs knocked off St. Joseph’s 10-0 on a bitterly cold Friday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.

                The Bulldogs improved to 12-0 on their 19-game season-opening homestand. MSU pitching threw its third shutout of the season and has allowed one or zero runs in seven of the 12 wins

                “Jacob was outstanding today,” MSU head coach John Cohen said. “On a day like this, you are battling the ailments, moreso than the opponent. That is not to discredit St. Joseph’s. But it was just a miserable day to play a ballgame.

                “Jacob would have beaten a lot of teams today, maybe even a big-team or two.”

                Lindgren (2-0) set new career highs with seven innings pitched and 13 strikeouts. While throwing 89 pitches, the Bay St. Louis native faced two batters past the minimum and allowed one hit. John Marc Shelly threw two innings of two-hit relief to finish the shutout.

                Offensively, the Bulldogs took control with a pair of runs in the second inning, added a single score in the third inning and expanded the lead with three runs in the fifth inning and four runs in the sixth inning.

                Wes Rea and Tyler Fullerton began the second inning with a pair of hits. Fullerton drove home Rea with his hit, while a double by Demarcus Henderson plated Fullerton.

                An RBI-single by C.T. Bradford upped the lead to 3-0 in the third inning.

                In the fifth inning, a walk and infield error opened the door for the Bulldogs. Adam Frazier followed with a hit. Mitch Slauter had a sacrifice-fly, prior to a two-run double by Alex Detz.

                Frazier again had the big blow an inning later with his Southeastern Conference best fourth triple of the year, driving in three runs.

                “One of our biggest issues this season has been situational hitting,” Cohen said. “It hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been great. I thought we did a really good job of that today and had some great at-bats.”

                Henderson finished with three of MSU’s 12 hits. Frazier, Bradford and Rea each had multiple hits.

                Starting pitcher Jack Stover (0-1) was chased in the fifth inning, after allowing seven hits and six runs (three earned) for St. Joseph’s (2-5).

                The Bulldogs and Hawks will resume the series with a single game at noon Saturday and a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Sunday. Junior right-hander Evan Mitchell is expected to get the Saturday start for the Bulldogs.