MSU Sweeps Ole Miss at Swayze Field

OXFORD, Miss. (MSU Athletics/WCBI) – Trailing by one after three innings, the No. 5 Mississippi State baseball program scored nine runs in the fourth on its way to a 11-5 victory and a Southeastern Conference series sweep of No. 11 Ole Miss at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field on Sunday (May 12).

The series sweep is the third in SEC play this season for the Diamond Dawgs and first SEC sweep on the road since taking all three games against the Rebels during the 2017 season in Oxford. In the history of the series, it is the first time that Mississippi State (42-10, 18-9 SEC) has swept back-to-back three-game series at Ole Miss (32-20, 15-12 SEC).

In 2019, MSU has swept Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss in conference play, with UGA and UM each being ranked at the time of the meetings.

After Ole Miss grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, Mississippi State tied the score with a run in the third. A Rebel run in the bottom of the third pushed the home team ahead, 2-1, before the Diamond Dawgs tallied nine runs in the fourth inning. UM wasn’t done, however, scoring one in the fourth and two in the eighth to inch closer, before State added one in the ninth to account for the final score of 11-5.

The nine-run fourth inning is the highest-scoring inning in an SEC game since the Diamond Dawgs tallied nine runs in the fourth inning of the second game in a doubleheader versus Alabama on April 12, 2017. It is the second-highest scoring inning this season for MSU, behind a 10-run frame versus ULM on April 3.

Senior Peyton Plumlee (5-3) gave the Diamond Dawgs his second-straight solid start with 7 2/3 innings of work to earn the victory. He allowed five runs – four earned – on seven hits. He walked two and struck out three, throwing a career-high 116 pitches in the game.

Freshman Brandon Smith recorded the final out of the eighth, before graduate student Cole Gordon fired a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Offensively, sophomore Tanner Allen was on base four times, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a walk, a run scored and one RBI. Junior Dustin Skelton chipped in three hits, one run scored and one RBI, while Jake Mangum had a pair of hits, scored one run and drove in one RBI. Senior Marshall Gilbert posted MSU’s fifth multi-hit game of the afternoon with two hits, one RBI and three runs scored. Freshman Luke Hancock and sophomores Rowdey Jordan and Jordan Westburg drove in two RBIs each in the game.