STARKVILLE — Mississippi State used an offensive explosion and a pitching masterpiece to draw first blood in its baseball rivalry series with Ole Miss.

Khal Stevens threw eight shutout innings, and the Bulldogs erupted for seven runs in the sixth inning to beat Ole Miss 8-0 in Friday’s weekend opener in Oxford.

Stevens (5-2) had nine strikeouts, did not walk a batter and allowed three hits. He retired nine batters in a row early in the game, and 11 in a row after that string was broken by Will Furniss’ leadoff single in the fifth inning.

Mississippi State scored its first run in the top of the fifth, when Bryce Chance reached on an error and eventually scored on a ground out by Logan Kohler. Then the Bulldogs took control with their seven-spot in the sixth.

David Mershon started the rally with a leadoff single, and Dakota Jordan followed with a home run. Five of the next six batters reached base, with Chance and Amani Larry making productive outs with RBI ground outs, before Mershon put a cap on things with a two-run single that made it 8-0.

Mershon and Jordan both finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs, and Kohler drove in two runs as well.

Mississippi State (22-12, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) has won seven consecutive series against Ole Miss (18-16, 3-10), and can make it eight by beating the Rebels again on Saturday. The teams will play at 7:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

Georgia State 18, Southern Miss 8
Georgia State scored six runs in the first inning, six more in the third, and hit three home runs as it run-ruled Southern Miss in the opener of a Sun Belt Conference series on Friday.

Michael Maginnis, Brennan Hudson and Ryan Dyal all went deep for Georgia State (17-16, 8-5 Sun Belt). Maginnis and Hudson both hit two-run homers in the big first inning, and Dyal added a two-run shot in the sixth.

Maginnis, Hudson and Dyal were among seven players who drove in multiple runs for the Panthers.
Southern Miss (21-13, 8-5) also did its share of slugging — it had four home runs and two doubles among its 10 hits — but couldn’t keep up.

Slade Wilks, Matthew Russo, Nick Monistere and Lawson Odom all homered for the Golden Eagles. Odom also doubled and finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored.

The teams will play game two of their three-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. in Decatur, Ga. It will be streamed on ESPN+.