Mississippi State advances to Super Regionals with 7-homer rout of Louisiana

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WLBT) – Mississippi State hit seven home runs and scored 19 runs to defeat Louisiana 19-5 in the Starkville Regional final Sunday night.

Jacob Parker and Ryder Woodson each hit two home runs for the Bulldogs. Parker went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and five runs scored, while Woodson finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs.

Early power surge

Mississippi State took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on solo home runs by Gehrig Frei and Parker. Woodson added a solo homer in the second inning to make it 3-0.

Louisiana’s Nate Lewis hit a solo home run in the third inning to cut the lead to 3-1.

Bulldogs pull away with four-run fourth

Mississippi State scored four runs in the fourth inning. Kevin Milewski drove in Reed Stallman with an RBI single, Frei added an RBI hit and Ace Reese hit a two-run homer to right-center to make it 7-1.

Woodson drove in a run with a single in the fifth inning. Louisiana scored one run in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 8-3.

Five-run seventh extends lead

Mississippi State scored five runs in the seventh inning. Parker hit an RBI double, Vytas Valincius followed with an RBI double and Stallman hit an RBI triple. Woodson capped the inning with a two-run homer to left to extend the lead to 13-5 at the end of the seventh.

Parker, Valincius deliver final blows

Parker hit his second home run of the game in the eighth inning, a two-run shot that made it 15-5.

Valincius hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to push the lead to 19-5.

Strong performances throughout lineup

Frei finished with four hits, three runs scored and two RBIs. Noah Sullivan had three hits and scored three runs.

Ryan McPherson pitched five innings for Mississippi State, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

Up Next

Mississippi State now heads to the Athens Super Regional where they will face 3-seed Georgia, a team that swept the Diamond Dawgs this season.

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