10/16/01 - Here is a recap of the second game of the Banana Split Series. I was only able to watch the first 5 and 1/2 innings prior to going to football practice. The third game, which will start at 3 p.m., is today.

10/15/01 - Here is a recap of the first game of the Banana Split Series.

10/10/01
BASEBALL
STARKVILLE, Miss. --- Mississippi State fans on campus for Homecoming 2001 will get to preview the 2002 Mississippi State University baseball edition Friday afternoon when MSU hosts its annual Maroon/White Baseball Game at Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. and there is no charge for admission to the scheduled 11-inning game.

Mississippi State returns 23 lettermen from last season's club that posted a 39-24 record, captured the 2001 SEC Baseball Tournament title in Hoover, Ala., and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals. Eighteen of those lettermen saw starting duty for MSU during the 2001 campaign, helping Mississippi State finish the year with a No. 14 national ranking.

The Maroon team will be comprised primarily of rookies, including 14 newcomers to Mississippi State's baseball program, while the White squad will be made up of returning veterans.

"The veterans win most of the time, but every once in a while the rookies have their day," said head baseball coach Ron Polk, who in June returned from Georgia to the Mississippi State baseball coaching post he held from 1976 to 1997.

The veteran White squad features senior All-Southeastern Conference right-hander Tanner Brock and six players who earned freshman all-America team honors in the past two years -- junior shortstop Matthew Maniscalco and pitcher Chris Young from 2000 and sophomore first baseman Matthew Brinson, third baseman Steve Gendron and designated hitter Brent Lewis, last season's freshman all-America team selections.

Mississippi State wraps up its six-week fall baseball practices next week with the return of the popular "Banana Split Series". The roster will be evenly divided for the five-game series, with the players on the winning team treated to a banana split by the opposing squad. This year's series begins Sunday, October 14 and concludes Thursday, October 18.

Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Sports Media Relations Department

State sent four players to all-tournament team honors, including tournament MVP Kasey Whitehead who collected a pair of victories in the circle and turned in a 1.00 ERA. Krystal Tillman, Jennifer Nelson and Jennifer Jessup also earned all-tournament accolades for Mississippi State.

"We are very proud of our performance in the Fall Fest," said Mississippi State head coach Kathy Arendsen. "A number of players really stepped up when we needed it. Amy Mosley had a huge single in the game vs. MUW to drive in the tying run and the go ahead run, Kasey Whitehead pitched one of her best games vs. Southern Miss, Krystal Tillman seemed to get on base every at bat and our defense played remarkably well.

"Our team will continue to build on this success throughout individual workouts this fall. We look forward to regaining our injured players and training as a whole team soon."

In three games at the tournament, the Bulldogs hit a collective .309 and drew 10 walks to turn in a .409 team on base percentage. Four players hit .429 or better and combined for 10 RBI. State was also successful on 86 percent (6-7) of its base stealing attempts.

The Bulldog pitching staff was 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA led by Whitehead's seven strikeouts in seven innings of work. Freshman Melissa Massey was 1-0 with a 1.75 ERA and one save, striking out four, in eight innings of work. Whitehead and Massey allowed 12 hits in 15 innings and combined for one shutout.

"We had hoped to finish our fall practice season with a positive and three quality wins certainly accomplishes that goal," Arendsen said. "We also had the opportunity to see our newcomers on the field and they all performed very well."

Game 1 - Mississippi State 6, MUW 2

Mississippi State erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to negate a 2-1 MUW lead as the Bulldogs opened the 2001 MSU Fall Fest with a 6-2 victory over the Blues.

Jennifer Nelson paced the Mississippi State bats with a 2-3 tally at the plate while also turning in a RBI. Sophomore Krystal Tillman collected a 1-1 slate at the plate with a pair of walks and a RBI. Melissa Massey worked a complete game, allowing a pair of earned runs while striking out two, to earn the victory for the Bulldogs.

MUW stormed out of the gates with a pair of successive RBI doubles in the opening frame of play, but MSU cut the lead to a single run in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly by Jennifer Waterman that plated Krystal Tillman from third.

Although trailing by a single run, State sent its entire order to the plate in the fourth and took advantage of MUW's pitching struggles to plate a slew of runs. Amy Mosley gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead with a two-run single, before MUW issued a bases loaded walk to Tillman that increased the Mississippi State lead to 4-2.

Jennifer Nelson's RBI single, along with a costly error by the Blues, allowed two more runs to score for MSU.

Game 2 - Mississippi State 2, Southern Mississippi 1

Mississippi State plated a pair of first inning runs and got a standout performance from starter Kasey Whitehead as the Bulldogs nipped Southern Mississippi, 2-1, to clinch the championship of the 2001 MSU Fall Fest.

The Bulldogs got lone hits from Krystal Tillman and Iyhia McMichael, as well as a RBI by Jennifer Jessup, to provide the offensive highlights. Whitehead worked a complete game, allowing just three hits and a lone earned run while striking out six Golden Eagles, to earn the victory.

Southern Miss took a quick 1-0 lead in the opening frame on a RBI single by shortstop Channika Gant, but State countered with a pair of runs in their half of the first. A costly throwing error by Gant allowed Tillman to cross the plate with MSU's first run in of the frame and was followed by a bases loaded walk issued to Jessup that plated Jennifer Waterman from third base with the one-run Mississippi State lead.

Southern Miss loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but pinch runner Diane Hammes interfered with a defensive play on a routine foul fly to the third base side and was called out to end the game.

Game 3 - Mississippi State 11, Delta State 0

Mississippi State turned in a pair of four-run innings and pounded out 11 runs on 11 hits to rout Delta State, 11-0, and close out their portion of play at the 2001 MSU Fall Fest.

Jennifer Jessup tallied a 3-3 performance at the plate with a pair of RBI to pace the Bulldog bats, but was joined by Jennifer Nelson (2-3) and Iyhia McMichael (2-2) who also turned in multi-hit games. Kasey Whitehead and Melissa Massey combined to allow just three hits in five innings of work to collect the shutout.

McMichael highlighted a four-run first inning with a two-run blast to left centerfield, but State also used a RBI single by Tillman and a throwing error by Delta State to take a 4-0 lead into the second. State scored a trio of runs in the next two frames to ride a 7-0 lead into the fourth.

The Bulldogs plated four more runs in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a RBI double by McMichael to left centerfield, to provide the final.

Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Sports Media Relations Department

10/09/01 - Scout Day attracted between 25 and 28 Major League Baseball scouts yesterday at Dudy Noble Field. The team scrimmaged afterwards but due to having to go to football practice, I wasn't able to do a boxscore for the scrimmage. The next game action for the team is this Friday afternoon when they have their yearly Maroon-White Intrasquad game.

10/08/01 (12:30 p.m.) - Saturday's baseball scrimmage info.

10/08/01 - MSU baseball info.

Former Bulldog pitcher Jerry Dupuy (1993-1994) has joined head coach Tim Dowdy's coaching staff at Pearl High School. Coach Dupuy has spent the last four years as the head baseball coach at False River Academy in New Roads, LA. At Pearl, Dupuy will take over the duties as pitching coach on all levels of the program and will serve as the head coach of the 8th and 9th Grade team.

Quote from Coach Dowdy, "I am excited to have Jerry join our staff here at Pearl. Jerry not only has the experience of playing in the SEC, but he is very knowledgeable about the game and is a very good pitching coach. We will have a young pitching staff this year and I believe they will benefit from having him work with them on a daily basis."

Pearl is the defending Class 4A State Champion, posting a 35-9 record in 2001. Check out the recently updated web site at http://www.piratebaseball.com .

10/06/01
BASEBALL
Friday scrimmage info. Each batter had a 1-1 on him when he came to bat. Saturday's scrimmage starts at 1 p.m.

10/05/01
BASEBALL
STARKVILLE, Miss. --- Mississippi State outfielder/first baseman Jon Knott, who led the 2001 Baseball Bulldogs with a .359 batting average and a .559 slugging percentage, has signed a free agent contract with the San Diego Padres.

The Venice, Fla., native inked with San Diego this week after taking part in the Padres' tryout camp in Peoria, Ariz., in September. He is scheduled to report to San Diego's spring training camp in Peoria in February.

A four-year letterman, Knott compiled a .302 career batting average, concluding his career with 51 home runs, fourth-most in MSU history, and 248 career doubles. He was named to the all-tournament team after Mississippi State's championship-clinching performance in the 2001 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala.

Knott, who missed most of MSU's postseason run to the NCAA Super Regionals with an ankle injury, started 222 of his 228 career games, playing on teams that advanced to the NCAA tournament four times, twice reaching the Super Regionals and in 1998 competing in the prestigious NCAA College World Series.

He becomes the second player from MSU's 14th-ranked 2001 club to sign a professional baseball contract, joining pitcher Brandon Medders of Tuscaloosa, Ala. Medders, a junior, was drafted in the eighth round by Arizona in the June draft, signed with the Diamondbacks and launched his professional career this year in the California League.

Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Sports Media Relations Department

10/04/01
SOFTBALL
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Mississippi State softball team will close out its team portion of fall practice this weekend as the Bulldogs host the 2001 MSU Fall Fest at the Mississippi State Softball Field.

The Bulldogs, who will be in action for the first time since the 2001 SEC Tournament in early May, will take part in three games. State will open up tournament play on Saturday morning at 9:30 against MUW and will follow with an 11:15 a.m. contest against Southern Mississippi. State will close out its portion of tournament play at 2:45 p.m. against Delta State.

In other games, MUW will take on Southern Mississippi at 1 p.m. with Delta State and Southern Mississippi closing out tournament play at 4:30 p.m. All games of the 2001 MSU Fall Fest will be played at the MSU Softball Field.

For State, the tournament gives head coach Kathy Arendsen the chance to evaluate her team's progress through more than a month of fall practice. The Bulldogs were bitten by the injury bug during the offseason and will be without the services of four players in Saturday's contests, including three-time all-American Kellie Wilkerson who is still recovering from surgery on her back. Sophomores Blaire Brown (knee) and Lindsay Nelson (shoulder), as well as freshman pitcher Brandy Bailey (forearm) will also be out of action on Saturday.

"The advantage is that it gives us an idea of what our personnel is capable of," said Mississippi State head coach Kathy Arendsen. "The focus on the tournament is what we need to accomplish in our individual practices this fall in preparation for the spring season. It also gives the newcomers the chance to get game experience in front of our crowd and the umpires. It culminates an outstanding fall session.

"The players that are missing is devastating to our team. All four are a big part of our team and any time you miss players it is going to hurt, but it also gives opportunities to other players to show what they can do."

Mississippi State returns eight starters off of last season's 36-26 squad that nearly captured its second-straight NCAA berth. Among its returnees, the Bulldogs return their entire outfield and four of five infield starters. State will also return two arms from its 2001 staff and will welcome the addition of a pair in the high school all-American Bailey and Tennessee native Melissa Massey.

State will open its 2002 regular season on February 8 at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz. There, MSU will face defending national champion Arizona, as well as perennial national power Nebraska.

2001 MSU FALL FEST SCHEDULE
9:30 a.m. Mississippi State vs. MUW
11:15 a.m. Mississippi State vs. Southern Mississippi
1 p.m. MUW vs. Southern Mississippi
2:45 p.m. Mississippi State vs. Delta State
4:30 p.m. Southern Mississippi vs. Delta State
- First team listed is designated home team
* All Games Played At Mississippi State Softball Field

Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Sports Media Relations Department

10/04/01 - Here is some info from last Sunday's baseball scrimmage. During the scrimmage, each batter started out with a 0-0, 2-2 or 3-1 count during different innings. That is why the stats are so distorted for both the hitters and pitchers.

10/02/01 - Upcoming baseball dates. All practices are open to the public.