Rooker’s 5 RBI Lead MSU Baseball Over Alabama A&M

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – A season-best nine-run second inning was the offensive highlight as No. 14 Mississippi State knocked off Alabama A&M 18-2 in a college baseball game played Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.

Starkville’s Team was scheduled to play twice Saturday but rain put a damper on those plans. After a two-run home run by Brent Rooker gave MSU a 3-1 lead against Marshall, heavy rains suspended play in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Sunday at Dudy Noble, Marshall will face Alabama A&M at 11 a.m. MSU and Marshall will then complete their game 35 minutes after the 11 a.m. game ends. State will then face Alabama A&M in another regulation nine-inning game to close the weekend.

MSU pounded out 13 hits against Alabama A&M and charged ahead with nine runs in the second inning to take a 9-1 lead. The Bulldogs expanded the lead with two runs in the fourth inning, followed by two runs in the sixth, three runs in the seventh and two runs in the eighth.

The highlight of the nine-run inning was a three run inside the park home run by MSU freshman Ryan Gridley. It was the first Bulldog round-tripper for the Milton, Fla., native. Rooker also began his monster day by homering in the win.

In the second inning, the Bulldogs scored twice on bases-loaded walks and another time by an error. Rooker had a two-run single while Jacob Robson had an RBI-single.

In the fourth inning, Gridley had an RBI-double and Josh Lovelady had an RBI-single.

Rooker homered to lead off the sixth inning. Cody Brown also had an RBI-single. Rooker had a two-run double in the seventh inning, while Matt Spruill had a two-run triple in the eighth inning.

Rooker finished with three hits and five RBIs, while Robson had his second straight three-hit game with an RBI. Gridley had two hits and four RBIs, whileSeth Heck also had two hits.

Austin Sexton (1-0) worked six innings to earn the quality start and a win. Sexton allowed two hits and one run with eight strikeouts. Levi Mintz threw two innings, while Logan Elliot threw the ninth inning.