Mississippi State “walks” past Memphis, 8-3

11 Bulldog batters drew walks from Tiger pitching

Mississippi State was outhit, 12-9, but the Bulldogs took advantage of 11 free passes and a couple homers to produce an 8-3 mid-week win over Memphis on Tuesday at AutoZone Park.

MSU (33-19) jumped ahead with a three-spot in the second. Brownlee and Ogden drew walks to start the inning. A single by Wes Thigpen made it 1-0. Bradford proceeded to drive in a run with a double before Thigpen crossed the plate on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 3-0.

Jarrod Parks led off the Bulldog fourth with a homer to make it 4-0.

The Tigers (27-24) got on the board in the fourth when Hynes and Graham delivered consecutive two-out singles to push a run across to make it 4-1.

They cut their deficit to one in the fifth. Back-to-back doubles by Drew Martinez and Chad Zurcher cut the lead to 4-2 before a Rich single scored another.

The Bulldogs built their advantage back to three in their next at-bat. Parks drew a one-out walk and Nick Vickerson connected on a two-run shot to left.

MSU added single runs in the seventh and ninth for the final margin.

Bulldog starter Kendall Graveman allowed three runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, but Evan Mitchell came on to collect the win in relief. Mitchell was masterful as he struck out 11 in 4 1/3 shutout innings of work while improving to 5-1.

Memphis used six pitchers in the game. Starter Eric Schoenrock took the loss to drop to 2-4 after allowing three runs on two hits and six walks in 2 1/3 innings.

Wes Thigpen went 3-for-5 to post the only multi-hit game for Mississippi State.

Chad Zurcher was 3-for-5 at the plate to pace Memphis. Chapman and Hynes also had two-hit games for the Tigers.

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