STARKVILLE, Miss. — The #6 Mississippi State Bulldogs opened their weekend series with a 4-2 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Friday night at Dudy Noble Field. A clutch three-run homer and a combined pitching effort helped the Dawgs secure the win in front of a massive home crowd.
Scoring Highlights The Bulldogs struck first in the bottom of the second inning when catcher Kevin Milewski launched a solo home run to left field with two outs. Vanderbilt responded to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the third when shortstop Ryker Waite hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring first baseman Chris Maldonado.
Mississippi State took the lead for good in the bottom of the third. After Noah Sullivan and Gehrig Frei drew walks, shortstop Ryder Woodson stepped up with two outs and hammered the game-winning hit—a three-run home run to center field, giving the Bulldogs a 4-1 advantage. Vanderbilt managed to scrape one more run across in the top of the eighth when Chris Maldonado hit an RBI double to left-center that brought home Mike Mancini, but the Bulldogs’ bullpen shut the door from there.
Leading Hitters Ryder Woodson provided the biggest spark for Mississippi State, going 1-for-4 with his game-winning three-run homer. Noah Sullivan had a solid night at the plate, going 2-for-3 and scoring a run. Kevin Milewski also shined with his second-inning solo shot, finishing 1-for-3.
For the Commodores, Chris Maldonado led the charge, going 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored.
Pitching Summary Mississippi State starter Ryan McPherson was solid over 4.0 innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run while striking out four. Jack Gleason (2-0) earned the win in relief, tossing 1.1 innings and working around two walks and a hit without giving up a run. Maddox Webb provided 1.0 hitless inning of relief, though he walked three. Ben Davis (S, 3) locked down the final 2.2 innings, allowing one run on one hit and striking out three to pick up his third save of the year.
Vanderbilt starter Connor Fennell (2-1) took the loss after giving up four earned runs on six hits and two walks over 5.0 innings, striking out five. Brennan Seiber pitched 3.0 scoreless innings of relief for the Commodores, allowing just two hits.
Game Details It was a beautiful night for baseball under clear skies at 77 degrees with a 6 mph south-southwest wind. The game lasted 2 hours and 57 minutes, and an incredible 14,649 fans packed into Dudy Noble Field.
Team Records and Upcoming Schedule With the win, Mississippi State improves to 18-4 overall and 2-2 in SEC play. Vanderbilt falls to 13-10 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
The series continues tomorrow! First pitch for Game 2 is set for Saturday at 6 P.M. on SEC Network+, and the series wraps up Sunday at 1 P.M. on SEC Network+.
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