Score:Â Mississippi State 16, VCU 4
Location:Â Starkville, Miss. (Dudy Noble Field)
Records:Â VCU 38-15, Mississippi State 42-15
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The short story:Â Mississippi State's offense exploded for 14 hits and pulled away from VCU with a nine-run sixth inning, sending the Rams to Sunday's elimination game.
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FIRST PITCH
- Junior right fielder Jack Schroeder went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.
- Sophomore second baseman Michael Haydak hit a two-run homer in the sixth that cut the Bulldogs lead to 6-4.
- Senior first baseman Steven Carpenter drew a pair of walks and collected a single.
- Mississippi State left-hander Christian MacLeod earned the win with 12 strikeouts in 5.2 innings on the mound.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Bulldogs opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout and RBI single in back-to-back at-bats.
- Schroeder responded in the top of the second with a solo shot, his eighth homer of the year, to deep center field to cut the lead to 2-1.
- After Mississippi State took a 6-1 lead after five innings, the Rams put together a rally in the top of the sixth. Junior designated hitter Liam Hibbits snaked a leadoff single through the right side, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Junior catcher Hunter Vay sent a two-out single up the middle to score Hibbits and cut the lead to 6-2.
- Haydak followed Vay by roping a line drive home run down the left field corner to get VCU within two runs.
- The Bulldogs scored nine runs in the bottom of the sixth, then added another in the eighth, to pull away from the Rams.
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NOTABLE
- The loss snaps VCU's program record winning streak at 22 games.
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UP NEXT
VCU faces Campbell in an elimination game Sunday, June 6 at 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET on ESPN3. The winner will play Mississippi State in the Regional championship game 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET. The Rams beat Campbell in the opening round of the Regional on Friday, 19-4.
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