Murray State
Mississippi
'Breds blank No. 9 Mississippi over last eight innings in 2-1 loss
4/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Through impressive pitching and strong defense, the Murray State Thoroughbreds held No. 9 Mississippi scoreless over the last eight innings, but couldn't string together enough hits in the 2-1 loss in Oxford, Miss., tonight.
The Rebels -- ranked ninth in this week's Baseball America poll and 12th in the USA Today/ESPN poll -- got both of their runs in the bottom of the first when Chris Coghlan led off with a double and scored on a single by Seth Smith. Smith was erased on one of MSU's three double plays of the night, but Charlie Babineaux hit a solo shot to give UM (32-12) a 2-0 lead.
Murray State (11-27) cut that lead in half in the top of the third when second baseman Seth Hudson led off by getting hit by a pitch and went to second on a single by third baseman Clint Griggs. Both runners advanced on a groundout, then both advanced on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Alex Stewart, scoring Hudson and ending the scoring at 2-1.
After Babineaux's first-inning home run, Murray State starting pitcher Bart Peach and the 'Breds defense retired 22 of the next 25 batters, allowing three hits and three walks over the last eight innings.
"Bart Peach pitched really, really well," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald. "Our defense also made no errors, but we couldn't get any runs batting. We hit decently, but we couldn't get enough strung together."
Both teams had six hits apiece.
Stewart went 2-for-3 for Murray State with a run batted in, while Josh Foreman went 2-for-4.
For Mississippi, Smith went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Coghland and Brian Pettway each doubled and Babineaux homered for the Rebels.
On the mound, Peach (0-4) allowed two runs on six hits, striking out two and walking three in the complete-game eight innings. Peach retired the side in the third (with the help of a double play), fourth, sixth and eighth inning, striking out two in the eighth.
For UM, Chris Thompson (2-0) got the win in relief, allowing no runs on two hits, striking out five and walking none in five innings. Taylor Fowler started for the Rebels, allowing one run on four hits, striking out one and walking none in two innings, while Stephen Head got his fourth save, retiring all three batters in the ninth inning.
Murray State returns home to resume Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend, hosting Tennessee-Martin. The three-game series begins Saturday with a 1 p.m. double-header, then closes Sunday with a 1 p.m. game. All three games can be heard locally on WRKY (1130 AM, Murray).
