Video: Rooker’s Big Day Leads Mississippi State Past Indiana State

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Sophomore left-hander Konnor Pilkington threw eight innings of shutout baseball as Mississippi State defeated Indiana State 11-6 in college baseball action Friday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.

The Bulldogs (4-2) bounced back from a midweek loss to Morehead State on Tuesday to kick off a four-game weekend series with a win.

“It was good to get a win,” MSU head coach Andy Cannizaro said. “Obviously, there are things we need to work on. We had a good night at the plate. Hopefully, we will carry this confidence at the plate into the rest of the weekend.”

MSU scored once in the first inning, twice in the third inning and then blew the contest open with three scores in both the fifth and sixth innings. Two insurance scores were added in the eighth inning.

That would be more than enough offense for Pilkington (1-1). In eight innings of work, Pilkington allowed four hits and no runs with six strikeouts and no walks. Kale Breaux was touched for five hits and six runs (all earned) in the ninth inning.

“Konnor pitched well,” Cannizaro said. “Again, he did a great job of challenging hitters and making them put the ball in play.”

The hitting star for the Bulldogs was Brent Rooker who had four hits and eight RBIs. Rooker hit his first two home runs of the season, giving the team eight for the year.

The Bulldogs took the early lead on a sacrifice fly by Cole Gordon. Brent Rooker had the big blow in the third inning with a two-run home run to left center field.

Jake Mangum got things going in a three-run, three-hit fifth inning for the Bulldogs with a single. That hit came after a walk to Brant Blaylock. Ryan Gridley had a two-run double, while Rooker had an RBI-single.

Rooker again had the hot hand in the sixth inning with a three-run double and capped his monster night with a two-run shot in the eighth inning.

As a team, the Bulldogs collected 12 hits. Gridley had three hits, while Jake Mangum had two hits.

Indiana State (2-3) finished with nine hits. Kyle Moore, Dominic Bifano and Chris Ayers each had two hits apiece. Moore highlighted the six-run ninth inning for the Sycamores with a three-run home run.

Starting pitcher Will Kincannon (0-2) was pulled in the sixth inning and took the loss.

MSU returns to the field Saturday for a twin-billing against Marist (1 p.m.) and Indiana State (4 p.m.), with both games to air on SEC Network+ via WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. The second of seven State to the Show poster giveaways will take place, with the first 1,000 fans able to get a Jonathan Holder poster.