STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Mississippi State baseball team scored seven two-out runs on Sunday, as the Bulldogs swept a three-game series from the visiting University of Evansville Purple Aces with a 13-3 victory at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi.
The Bulldogs took control of the contest in the first inning thanks to a pair of home runs. With one out, outfielder Dakota Jordan launched his third home run of the series with a two-run blast to left-center field to open the scoring. Jordan went 1-for-2 on the day and was intentionally walked three times, as he finished the series going 7-for-9 with two doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI.
The two-out magic then began for Mississippi State, as a two-out single and walk preceded a three-run home run to dead center field by outfielder Connor Hujsak just outside of the reach of UE center-fielder Ty Rumsey to push the lead to 5-0 after one inning.
Rumsey would get Evansville back into the contest briefly in the fourth inning, as he launched a three-run home run to right field to trim the MSU lead to 5-3. That would be as close as Evansville would come though, as the Bulldogs would score a run in the fourth inning, before scoring two two-out runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to push the lead to 10-3. Mississippi State scored three runs in the eighth inning to enact the mercy rule.
Rumsey led Evansville by going 2-for-3 with his second home run of the year and three RBI. Junior second baseman Cal McGinnis also went 2-for-4 for the Purple Aces. Shortstop Dylan Cupp led Mississippi State by going 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and three RBI.
With the victory, Mississippi State has now won nine games in a row, as the Bulldogs improve to 12-4 overall. Evansville, meanwhile, drops to 7-8 with the loss. The Purple Aces will return home briefly to German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium on Wednesday night to host Southeast Missouri State at 6 p.m.
