Brent Rooker finds home run swing for MSU

HATTIESBURG — It had been over a week since Brent Rooker had hit a home run for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

That changed for the MSU first baseman during a doubleheader against Southern Miss on Monday to determine the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional championship.

After Rooker hit a home run to give the Bulldogs a 7-1 lead in the first game against the Golden Eagles, which became an eventual 8-1 victory, he blasted a solo shot in the nightcap to put MSU on top 1-0. Before going deep on Monday, the last time Rooker had hit a baseball out of the park was against Georgia at the Southeastern Conference Tournament on May 24.

The second homer gave Rooker 23 for the season and he passed Tommy Raffo on the all-time single season list. Raffo hit 22 homers in 1989.

With his second home run of the day, Rooker also hit the 80-mark in runs batted in.

Vansau of Bulldogs had multi-hit game

Hunter Vansau had three hits against Southern Miss in the first game with three singles.

It was Vansau's eighth multi-hit game of the season and his fourth game with three hits.

MSU finds hits throughout lineup

In the first game against the Golden Eagles, eight of the nine Bulldog starters recorded hits.

Along with Vansau's three-hit performance, Ryan Gridley, Cody Brown and Jake Mangum had two hits each.

Golden Eagles struggle against Bulldog Billingsley

MSU junior pitcher Jacob Billingsley did not allow a run to Southern Miss after the first inning of his start on Monday.

The Golden Eagles did not get a runner to third base for the remainder of the game after having the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth.