03/06/03
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Persistent rain brought a halt to a solid comeback effort by 10th-ranked Mississippi State and Wednesday afternoon's competition at Dudy Noble Field as MSU (6-1-1) and Louisiana Tech 5-8-1) battled to a 5-5 tie. It marked the second tie in 13 months for MSU, which hosts Lipscomb University in a three-game series this weekend.

Kyle Humphreys' grand slam off MSU starter Jacob Blakeney capped a five-run third-inning burst that staked Louisiana Tech to a 5-0 lead. Fairon Allen had a pair of singles and drove in a run to open the game's scoring in the inning.

But Mississippi State battled back, scoring single runs in the third and fourth frames. MSU pulled even with three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth, the last two on a Steve Gendron double into the right field corner.

Play was halted and the infield covered in the top of the seventh with one out and a Tech runner on second base. But the game was ended after a delay of nearly one hour when heavy rain rendered the field unplayable.

Gendron went 2-for-2 while Matthew Maniscalco extended his season-opening hitting streak with a single and scored MSU's first run in the third inning. The Bulldogs hit into a pair of costly inning-ending double plays and left the bases loaded in the fourth.

Jon Lockwood started and pitched two scoreless innings before giving way to Brad Chedister in the third. Chedister walked five of the 11 batters he faced and was replaced in the fourth by Jason Schneider, on the hill in the sixth when MSU tied the game with three runs.

Blakeney gave up five runs on five hits and struck out four in four innings. Brooks Dunn replaced Blakeney to start the fifth and Jeff Lacher, who retired the three batters he faced in the sixth, was being replaced by Brian Owens in the seventh when play was halted.

Mississippi State opens a three-game weekend series against first-time opponent Lipscomb University Friday at 4 p.m. Saturday's game as a special Noon start time while Sunday's 1:30 p.m. series finale has been designated as Scout Day at Dudy Noble Field. All area Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts will receive free admission to the game.

Source: MSU Media Relations

03/05/03
CHICAGO - The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Pitcher of the Week award for the period ending March 2nd. Mississippi State sophomore RHP Alan Johnson won the honor.

Johnson carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his second career Mississippi State start vs. East Tennessee State on March 1. ETSU's Beau Alford ended Johnsonıs bid for a no-hitter and his impressive mound performance with a sharply hit pinch-hit single to right. Johnson struck out four of the first five batters he faced, did not allow a base runner until striking the lead-off hitter in the fifth, fanned five straight Buccaneer batters in the fifth and sixth innings, and faced one over the minimum through seven innings of pitching. He finished with a staff season-high 11 strikeouts and he did not walk a batter in his second straight outing.

Source: NCBWA

03/04/03 - MSU, which plays UAB (13-0) tonight at 6 p.m. in Birmingham, has moved up in the latest polls.