Video: Red-Hot Rooker Powers Bulldogs To Saturday Sweep

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI / Miss. St. Athletics)– If hitting is contagious, the Mississippi State baseball team may be feeling an epidemic.

MSU pounded out 29 hits to defeat Marist 12-4 and Indiana State 9-1 in a pair of baseball games played Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.

The Bulldogs (6-2) have now scored eight or more runs in seven straight games.

Ryan Gridley led the offensive attack with four hits in each win.

GAME ONE: MSU 12, Marist 4

Brent Rooker had a four-for-four night with eight RBIs in Friday night’s win over Indiana State. The stat sheet looked similar in this win with four more hits and six RBIs.

For the season, Rooker has now driven in 17 runs.

The Bulldogs erased a 3-1 deficit with four runs in the second inning. The Maroon and White were still nursing a 6-4 lead before exploding for six runs in the eighth inning.

A two-run single by Rooker was the big blow in the second inning. Rooker followed with an RBI-double in the fifth inning and hit a three-run home run during the big eighth inning.

MSU collected 15 hits as a team. Gridley had the first of his two four-hit performances for the weekend. Alexander had a pair of RBIs. Jake Mangum also had multiple hits.

Graham Ashcraft (1-0) drew the start and worked five innings to get the win. Ashcraft allowed four hits and three runs (two earned), with four strikeouts. Jacob Barton and Cole Gordon also pitched, before Spencer Price got the game’s final five outs for his first save.

GAME TWO: MSU 9, Indiana State 1

The Bulldogs again flirted with their first shutout of the season in Saturday’s second game. It was the second straight day that a Bulldog starter left after working eight scoreless innings.

Sophomore right-hander Peyton Plumlee (2-0) allowed three hits and struck out five in eight innings of work. Denver McQuary threw the ninth inning for the Bulldogs.

Gridley had four hits and three RBIs. Alexander had three hits, while Cody Brown had two hits and four RBIs. Jake Mangum also had two hits, as the Bulldogs totaled 14 as a team. Brown and Gridley bother homered. Mangum has now hit safely in all eight games this season and owns a 21-game hitting streak dating back to last season.

After collecting eight hits in the first two games of the weekend, Rooker was hitless in this contest.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good with two runs in the first inning. The lead grew with a single run in the third inning and added four scores in the fifth inning. MSU also added two runs in the sixth inning.

Gridley hit home run in the third inning, while Brown launched a three-run shot in the fifth inning.

The Bulldogs will close their four-game weekend and nine-game homestand on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a rematch with Marist.