Mississippi State
North Carolina
Early Bulldog Lead Not Enough To Down Tar Heels In CWS Opener
June 15, 2007 | Baseball
MSU (38-21) will face Louisville (46-23) at 1 p.m. CT in an elimination game Sunday. National No. 3 seed North Carolina (54-13) will meet National No. 2 seed Rice (55-12) in winners' bracket play at 6 p.m. Sunday. In Friday's other first-round game, Rice erased a 10-4 deficit by scoring the game's final 11 runs, pinning a 15-10 loss on Louisville.
The Bulldogs saw a modest five-game postseason win streak snapped with Friday night's defeat. MSU had won five straight one other time this year - winning the first five games of the regular season.
"Baseball games are sometimes all about the big inning," MSU coach Ron Polk said. "Sometimes, the big inning really helps a team. Sometimes the big inning really hurts. Their big inning was bigger than ours."
Before a bositerous crowd of Bulldog fans, MSU sprinted to an early 4-0 lead and chased UNC ace starter Robert Woodard in the second inning. Brian LaNinfa started the MSU frame with a single to center field. Joseph McCaskill followed with a double to right. Russ Sneed then belted a two-run double to right center field. A sacrifice fly by Conner Powers made the score 3-0 and a Brandon Turner RBI single upped the lead to 4-0. Edward Easley then doubled off the left field wall. That hit chased Woodard, who entered the game 10-2 but lasted only 1 2/3 innings Friday - his shortest stint in 51 career appearances.
Adam Warren (11-0) entered in relief and got a critical groundout to help the Tar Heels escape that second inning with the Bulldogs stranding a pair of runners in scoring position.
"We talked in the dugout about having to add more runs," MSU outfielder Mitch Moreland said. "We knew North Carolina was a real good comeback team. Unfortunately, we couldn't add more runs there early."
The Tar Heels rallied for the fifth time in postseason competition by scoring two runs in the fourth inning and six more scores in the sixth inning.
An RBI single by Chad Flack started the UNC rally. Benji Johnson followed with another run-producing hit in the fourth inning.
Things then caved in for the Bulldogs with six runs in the sixth inning. A hit batsman, single and infield error sparked the Tar Heels' rally. An RBI double by Johnson tied the game 4-4 and chased MSU starter Justin Pigott (7-7). John Lalor entered in relief and walked the first batter he faced. A bases-loaded hit batsman then forced in the go-ahead run for UNC. A sacrifice fly by Tim Fedroff expanded the lead again and a two-run single by Dustin Ackley capped the big inning to further the damage.
An inning later, Moreland slammed a home run over the extended wall in dead center - more than 408 feet from home plate for MSU's final score of the day.
That shot would be the only mark against a brilliant UNC bullpen. Warren, Rob Wooten, Andrew Carignan combined for 7 1/3 innings of relief work, allowing five hits and one run. Carignan retired the side in order in the ninth inning for his 16th save.
Ricky Bowen completed the contest on the mound for the Bulldogs, throwing 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief. Pigott allowed eight hits and six runs (four earned) in 5 1/3 innings of work.
"(UNC coach) Mike Fox told me after the ballgame that he really liked my ball club," Polk said. "I told him that I really liked their bullpen. Their relief pitchers really came in and did great job because we have a good hitting ball club."
Both teams finished with 12 hits. Turner, Moreland, LaNinfa and Sneed each had multiple hits for the Bulldogs. Flack had three hits to pace the Tar Heels' attack. Fedroff, Josh Hornton and Johnson each had multiple hits for UNC.
