HOOVER, Ala. — Ross Mitchell helped Mississippi State continue its streak of good pitching and claim the SEC tournament title with a 3-0 victory over Vanderbilt on Sunday.
The Bulldogs (39-22) head into the NCAA regionals having won eight of their last nine games after league coaches picked them to finish fifth in the SEC West. It’s Mississippi State’s seventh SEC tournament title and first since 2005.
“I don’t know if you could have a better home field advantage 2 1/2 hours from your campus than we did today,” Bulldogs Coach John Cohen said.
Caleb Reed relieved Mitchell and got Connor Castellano to ground into a double play in the ninth before hitting Andrew Harris with a pitch. Staff ace Chris Stratton finished it off when Tony Kemp grounded to short with runners at first and third.
“Caleb came in after me and had an amazing double play that Adam [Frazier] turned,” Mitchell said. “Stratton came in and does what he does. He’s the best pitcher in the nation.”
Starter Brandon Woodruff allowed 1 hit and 2 walks in the first 3 innings. Mitchell gave up five hits.
Frazier, the tournament MVP, scored one run and drove home another and finished with 12 hits in six games.
Mississippi State, which came in ranked 11th in the SEC in hitting and first in earned run average, allowed seven runs in its five victories at Regions Park.
Frazier scored the game’s first run on a two-out wild pitch by Tyler Beede (1-5) in the third inning. The Bulldogs scored twice in the fourth with a single, two walks - one with the bases loaded - and a hit batter to take a 3-0 lead. Steven Rice walked Frazier, the only batter he faced, on four consecutive pitches to bring home a run.
“We’re proud of what we’ve done to this point,” Vanderbilt outfielder Connor Harrell said. “We ran into a tough arm, but there’s a bigger championship coming.”
Conrad Gregor lined to first base for an inning-ending double play in the first with runners at first and third, and the Commodores (33-26) got few scoring opportunities after that.
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/28/2012