State rallies for 6-4 win at Samford

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After allowing four runs in the first inning, the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball team shut out Samford the rest of the way and rallied to earn its 20th win of the season.

State scored single runs in the fourth and fifth, and tallied four runs in the seventh on the way to a 6-4 win.

It is the second-straight game that State (20-2) allowed four runs in the first inning and the secondstraight game it rallied for a win. Samford (14-6) stranded 12 runners on base in the contest against six Bulldog pitchers.

For Mississippi State, it is the best 22-game start in program history since starting the 2006 season at 21-1.

After senior Peyton Plumlee allowed the four runs in the first inning, he settled in and held Samford scoreless the next two innings. Redshirt-junior Spencer Price threw a scoreless fourth and redshirt-junior Tyler Spring (1-0) tossed a pair of scoreless innings to earn the win. He struck out three and allowed just one hit.

MSU tallied single runs in the fourth and fifth innings with a RBI groundout by freshman Landon Jordan and an RBI double from sophomore Justin Foscue, respectively, then, after Spring's second scoreless frame, State put up four runs in the seventh inning. Landon Jordan drove in the first run, before sophomore Rowdey Jordan tied the game with an RBI single. Senior Jake Mangum and sophomore Jordan Westburg each added RBI to cap the inning.

"It is great to see (Rowdey) enjoying playing the game," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said about Rowdey Jordan getting the big hit. "When you are in the funk, the game is not a lot of fun, so, it's been hard on him. He is one of our better personalities, so to see him have success tonight and come up with that big hit was huge."

Redshirt-junior Trysten Barlow and junior Colby White each tossed scoreless innings before handing the baseball to Cole Gordon in the ninth, as he closed out his sixth save of the season with three strikeouts in the ninth.