Bulldogs, Rebels notch shutouts in openers

Published 1:00 am Saturday, March 12, 2011

Mississippi State’s pitching staff notched its third shutout of the season Friday, as Devin Jones and Caleb Reed combined on a five-hitter to beat Sacred Heart 5-0.

Jones (2-2) threw his third quality start and the team’s eighth of the season. Facing 28 batters in seven innings of work, Jones allowed five hits, with a career-high seven strikeouts and one walk. Reed faced the minimum six batters in his two innings and struck out four.

“What Devin and Caleb did was impressive,” Mississippi State coach John Cohen said. “You don’t want to trade offense for defense but when you’re not swinging it well, it’s great to have that. Devin didn’t have his best stuff but he competed all night.”

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Mississippi State (11-3) scored twice in the first and fifth innings and once in the seventh. Jarrod Parks went 1-for-3 with an RBI triple and a run scored, while Jonathan Ogden scored two runs.

Ole Miss 8, Lispcomb 0

Matt Crouse threw a complete-game shutout as Ole Miss beat Lipscomb (7-7) in the opener of a three-game series in Oxford.

Crouse allowed four hits, one walk and struck out nine. It was the first complete-game shutout by an Ole Miss pitcher since Scott Bittle did it against Kentucky on April 5, 2009.

“Matt Crouse was really sharp tonight,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “Lipscomb was very aggressive at the plate against him and he made some pitches and we were able to make some plays behind him early. He notched a career-high in strikeouts, and anytime you get a shutout it’s a good thing. That was a great game by him.”

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning, when Tanner Mathis drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Rebels ahead 1-0. Alex Yarbrough then drove in two runs with a double, Matt Smith brought in another with a groundout and Matt Snyder delivered an RBI single to make it 5-0.

Yarbrough finished with three RBIs, while Snyder was 2-for-4. Miles Hamblin also went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs for Ole Miss (11-4).