STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - First-time starter Daniel Best limited Mississippi State to two runs over six innings to lead Southern Mississippi to a 5-2 win over the Bulldogs Wednesday night. <br>
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It's the fourth consecutive year that Mississippi State (29-10-1) and Southern Miss (31-11) have split their two-game Southeastern Conference series. <br>
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Best (2-0) checked Mississippi State on two hits over the first five frames, scattered six hits on the night, walked two and struck out three. <br>
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He retired the first batter he faced in the seventh, then gave way to John Nicholas, who retired all eight batters he faced to earn his second save. <br>
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Both teams scored single tallies in the second. Southern Miss opened the inning with back-to-back singles by Clint King and Griff Israel and a run-scoring one-out hit by Kevin Coker. <br>
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Mississippi State answered in similar fashion, getting inning-opening hits by J.B. Tucker and Brent Lewis, a one-out walk by Jon Mungle and a sacrifice fly by Brad Jones that tied the score at 1-1. <br>
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Freshman pitchers Brad Corley (0-2) and Best kept the score tied through the fifth inning. <br>
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The Golden Eagles scored two runs in the sixth and used three singles, a sacrifice bunt and a Bulldog throwing error to plate a pair of insurance runs in the ninth, for the final 5-2 score. <br>
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Southern Miss designated hitter Brad Willcutt paced all hitters with a 3-for-5 plate performance and the Golden Eagles piled up 14 hits.
