Video: No. 17 MSU Baseball Shuts Out Nicholls State, Finishes Weekend 4-0

[syndicaster id=’6245138′]

STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – Fans of elite pitching were rewarded this weekend at Dudy Noble Field.

No. 17 Mississippi State (6-2) ran its win streak to five games with an 8-0 win over Nicholls State in the final game of a four-game weekend series Sunday afternoon.

The MSU quartet of Zac Houston, Kale Breaux, Noah Hughes and Paul Young combined on the team’s second three-hit shutout of the weekend. Austin Sexton threw a three-hit shutout in a 5-0 win Saturday over the Colonels.

Last season, the Bulldogs did not record a shutout.

“This was a good weekend,” MSU head coach John Cohen said. “Playing four games really tests your kids mentally. We knew our starters had to come out and perform better this weekend. Each one of them made some adjustments, and you could tell the type of stuff that each one has.”

For the weekend, MSU (6-2) beat Nicholls State twice and UMass-Lowell twice. In the four games, MSU starting pitching did not allow a run, allowed only 13 hits and struck out 34 batters in 26.2 innings of work. As a whole, the Bulldog pitching staff recorded a 0.75 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 36 innings, holding hitters to a .172 average.

Houston (1-0), a junior right-hander, nailed down his first career win with a career-high 10 strikeouts in a career-best six innings. MSU starters have now struck out 10 or more batters in four straight games for first time since Feb. 25-Mar. 2, 2012.

In this victory, the Bulldogs got things going quickly. MSU scored twice in the first inning and added four more scores in the second inning. The Bulldogs were then held in check until pushing across a pair of runs in the eighth inning.

In the MSU first inning, Jacob Robson walked, stole second base and later scored on an RBI-single by Gavin Collins. After a hit by Reid Humphreys, Ryan Gridley reached on a hit by pitch to load the bases. A bases-loaded walk to Nathaniel Lowe brought home a run.

In the second inning, Elih Marrero got another day of doubles going. Marrero doubled, Robson walked and Jack Kruger had a single to load the bases.

Brent Rooker followed with a two-run double. Humphreys had an RBI-single, while Gridley added a sacrifice fly.

Nicholls State (4-5) then went to the bullpen and got a double play ball to escape this threat.

For the season, MSU now leads the nation with 26 doubles, after hitting three more total Sunday.

In the eighth inning, the Maroon and White belted out three straight two-out hits to plate a pair of insurance scores.

Robson singled and scored on a triple by Brown, tying his career high with three runs scored. A follow-up single by Rooker scored Brown and closed the day’s scoring activity.

MSU collected 10 base hits – its fifth game in double figures this season. Rooker and Humphreys were the lone multiple hitters.

MSU will play host to Alcorn State at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field. The final game in MSU’s season-opening nine-game homestand will be available nationally on SEC Network +.