Brent Rooker hit two homers, including a three-run shot in the third inning, that helped top-seeded Mississippi State overcome an early deficit and beat Southeast Missouri 9-5 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament’s Starkville Regional on Friday.

“I was able to put a pretty good swing on it, and it found the barrel,” Rooker said in the postgame press conference. “I think the wind helped me out a bit. I actually thought he caught it rounding first base and I was pretty excited when I realized it went over his head.”

SE Missouri roughed up Mississippi State’s ace pitcher Dakota Hudson for four runs in the first three innings to take a 4-1 lead, but Rooker’s second homer just cleared the wall to pull the Bulldogs (42-16-1) even.

“I don’t think Dakota had the best stuff. I think that was pretty apparent. I want to give credit to Southeast Missouri. I think they had a pretty good approach against him,” Mississippi State coach John Cohen said. “He got fastball counts and they hit fastballs. He had slider counts and they hit slider.

“Dakota never gave up and he kept battling for us and had a little help from the bullpen today.”

The Redhawks (39-20) briefly jumped ahead 5-4 in the sixth, but Mississippi State responded with three more runs in the bottom of the inning.

Reid Humphreys had three of the Bulldogs’ 14 hits while five other starters had two apiece.

Mississippi State’s Daniel Brown (4-2) earned the win after throwing 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. SE Missouri starter Joey Lucchesi took the loss, giving up seven runs over 5 1/3 innings.

“Daniel Brown had a dominant performance against a really good lineup,” Cohen said. “This is a club hitting .310 to .314. That’s not by accident”

 

USM 11, South Alabama 2

Southern Mississippi scored 11 runs in the sixth inning en route to a 14-2 victory over South Alabama on Friday.

Chuckie Robinson started the inning with his seventh home run of the season. The Golden Eagles (41-18), who got their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2010, had half of their 16 hits in the frame.

Daniel Keating had three hits as all the Southern Mississippi starters had at least one hit. Hunter Slater was one of six players with two hits and also drove in three runs.

Kirk McCarty, who improved to 8-1, pitched six shutout innings with no walks and four strikeouts.

“I just wanted to throw strikes, let the defense work and they did that,” McCarty said.

South Alabama’s Kevin Hill (8-2) allowed a season-high six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. The Jaguars (40-21) averted a shutout with a pair of runs in the ninth. Brendan Donovan and Ben Gann each had two hits.

 

Utah 6, Ole Miss 5

Hunter Simmons hit a run-scoring double in the top of the 10th inning to lead Utah over top-seeded Mississippi 6-5 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament’s Oxford Regional on Friday night.

Utah (26-27) was one of two teams that came into the tournament with a losing record. The Utes got some excellent pitching from its bullpen as Riley Ottesen and Dylan Drachler combined for four scoreless innings of relief.

Ole Miss (43-18) jumped out to a 5-2 lead after scoring four runs in the fifth inning, but Utah tied it with three runs in the top of the sixth. The Utes will play Boston College on Saturday. The Rebels will face Tulane in an elimination game.

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The Associated Press and the athletic departments of Mississippi State and Southern Miss contributed to this report.