HOOVER, Ala. — Mississippi State’s baseball team appeared to be taking a big risk Tuesday by starting a freshman pitcher who didn’t win a game during the regular season.
Brandon Woodruff showed the move wasn’t risky at all.
Woodruff pitched five scoreless innings and Wes Rea hit a three-run home run to lead seventh-seeded Mississippi State to a 9-1 victory over sixth-seeded Arkansas in the first round of the SEC Tournament at Regions Park. Rea’s home run came in the second inning off Ryne Stanek (6-4), who pitched 5 2/3 innings after being limited his past two starts by injuries.
Mississippi State (35-21) added six runs in the ninth with the help of two Arkansas throwing errors and a passed ball that allowed a run to score. Arkansas (39-18) must defeat Ole Miss (34-23) in an elimination game at 9:30 a.m. today to avoid going 0 for 2 in the SEC Tournament for the fourth time in eight years.
Ole Miss, which lost 2-0 to Kentucky on Tuesday, took 2 of 3 games from the Razorbacks during the regular season.
Woodruff (1-2) was selected to start for Mississippi State in its tournament opener despite going 0-2 with a 3.46 earned run average in 10 games during the regular season. The right-hander allowed only two hits and seemed to settle down when Arkansas failed to score after putting two runners on base in the first inning.
He had 5 strikeouts and walked 1 while throwing 72 pitches.
“We really love the progression of how [Woodruff] has come along, because it’s been a little bit of a slow start,” Mississippi State Coach John Cohen said. “Now, in the postseason, we knew we had to have somebody extra step up, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Woodruff’s biggest victim was Derrick Bleeker, who left five runners on base after striking out in his first two at bats. Arkansas had two runners on in the first inning when Bleeker was called out looking and had the bases loaded in the third when Bleeker swung at a pitch in the dirt for the third strike.
“I was a little nervous knowing it was my first SEC start,” said Woodruff, who started four games during the regular season. “After I got in, I was fine. Then after Wes hit his home run, I settled in and just tried to throw strikes and let my defense work.”
Arkansas played most of the game without leading hitter Matt Reynolds, who left in the second inning after getting hit by a pitch on the elbow in the first. Reynolds’ loss began a frustrating day for the Razorbacks, who hit into two double plays and left 11 runners on base.
Matt Vinson drove in Arkansas’ only run with a single in the sixth.
“We finally got the big two-out hit to make it 3-1 and felt like the momentum was going to swing our way,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “It never did because we couldn’t get that over-thehump hit and our pitching was just OK.
“Obviously, the ninth inning just unraveled real quick.”
Mississippi State had only two hits in the ninth inning when it scored six runs to break open the game. Freshman Brian Anderson, who started the game in right field, had a throwing error at third base that allowed two runs to score. Mississippi State’s Sam Frost had a two-run single and advanced to second after a throwing error by Dominic Ficociello.
Arkansas catcher Jake Wise also was charged with a passed ball while catching for Barrett Astin, who walked two in the ninth but was not charged with an earned run.
Stanek got into trouble in the second inning after walking leadoff batter Hunter Renfroe. Stanek retired Mitch Slauter before Demarcus Henderson lined a single to right field to put runners on second and third after Henderson advanced on the throw to third.
Rea then powered a Stanek pitch over the fence in left field to put the Bulldogs ahead 3-0.
“We had runners at second and third, and I was trying to get under something,” Ray said of his fifth home run of the season. “I was trying to get an RBI, but when a guy throws with that kind of velocity, the ball’s going to jump for me.”
Adam Frazier had three hits for Mississippi State, while Vinson had two to lead the Razorbacks.
Arkansas will attempt to remain in the tournament today behind DJ Baxendale (7-3, 3.14 ERA), who was the SEC’s pitcher of the week after throwing eight scoreless innings against Tennessee last Thursday. Baxendale was hit hard when Arkansas lost 8-2 at Ole Miss earlier this season.
“We’re just glad it’s not single elimination and we get to play another game,” Van Horn said. “Hopefully, we’ll bounce back and play better.”
plate with a home run to lead Kentucky past Ole Miss in the opening round. Reed (5-2) and Taylor Rogers threw a combined seven-hitter for the Wildcats. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for Kentucky (42-15), while the loss was the fifth in a row for the Rebels (34-23). Reed’s fourth-inning home run, his fourth of the season, gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Cameron Flynn made the score 2-0 in the sixth with a single that scored Luke Maile. Matt Snyder had four hits for Ole Miss. Snyder and Reed accounted for eight of the game’s 14 hits. Bobby Wahl (6-3) struck out six through six innings in the loss.
FLORIDA 6, AUBURN 1
HOOVER, Ala. — Justin Shafer had three RBI and Jonathon Crawford struck out nine as Florida defeated Auburn in the first round. Crawford (5-2) and three relievers pitched a combined three-hitter. After a leadoff single in the third by Bobby Andrews, the Tigers did not manage another hit until the ninth. Shafer drove in two runs with a second-inning single off Auburn starter Jon Luke Jacobs (5-4). A two-run double in the sixth by Casey Turgeon gave Florida (41-16) a 4-1 lead. Shafer then made it 5-1 with a single that brought home Turgeon. Auburn’s only run came on a sacrifice fly in the third by Creede Simpson that scored Andrews. The run was unearned because of an earlier throwing error by Nolan Fontana. The Tigers (30-27) lost in the tournament’s opening round for the sixth time in their past seven appearances.
VANDERBILT 4, GEORGIA 1
HOOVER, Ala. — Spencer Navin had two hits and two RBI as Vanderbilt beat Georgia in the opening round. The Commodores (30-25) have won six consecutive games and nine of 10 overall. Vanderbilt took the lead for good when it loaded the bases in the third and Navin lined a 3-2 pitch into center field off Alex Wood (7-3), giving the Commodores a 2-1 lead. Anthony Gomez added a run-scoring single in the fifth, and Tony Kemp had an RBI in the sixth. Georgia’s run came in the second when Levi Hyams hit a leadoff double and later scored on a fielder’s choice. The Bulldogs (31-25) had runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth, but Vandy’s Brian Miller (1-2) struck out Hunter Cole swinging.
Today’s game
ARKANSAS VS. MISSISSIPPI
WHEN 9:30 a.m. Central WHERE Regions Park, Hoover, Ala. TV Fox Sports Net RADIO RSP statewide radio network, which includes KHLR-FM, 106.7, in Little Rock; KQSM-FM, 92.1 in Fayetteville; KURM-AM, 790, in Bentonville-Rogers; KASR-FM, 92.7, in Conway; KHGG-FM, 103.1, in Fort Smith; KXJC, 950 AM, Forrest City; KELD-FM, 106.5, in El Dorado; and KOMT-FM, 107.5, in Mountain Home. Not all games will be carried by affiliates. Check local listings. INTERNET www.arkansasrazorbacks. com PITCHING MATCHUP Arkansas: DJ Baxendale: (RHP, 7-3, 3.14 ERA). Mississippi: TBA.
Sports, Pages 25 on 05/23/2012