Mississippi St. 3, Tennessee 2

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Posted 10:59PM on Saturday, May 28, 2005

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) Jeff Butts' RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Mississippi State to a 3-2 win over Tennessee Saturday and into the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game. The Bulldogs (39-20) will play the Florida-Mississippi winner for their sixth SEC tournament title and first since 2001. They're 3-0 in the tournament but needed stellar pitching by starter Jon Crosby and some final-inning heroics to avoid a second game with the Volunteers (41-19). Mississippi State coach Ron Polk said his team has had plenty of doubters this season. Now, he's hoping the Bulldogs' SEC tournament run will help them land an NCAA regional host site. ``I thought we could compete with anybody, and it's shown so far,'' Polk said. Brad Corley opened the ninth with an infield single and scored the tying run on Brian LaNinfa's double to chase starter Craig Cobb (6-4). At first, Polk thought LaNinfa's hit was going to be just another long out in the spacious Hoover Met. ``It just kept carrying and I finally said, 'Maybe that thing's going to drop,''' he said. Ben Grisham came in to run for LaNinfa and reliever Sean Watson struck out Joseph Hunter. Butts' single dribbled down the left-field line and bounced off Headley's glove at third base to drive in Grisham and push the Bulldogs into the title game. ``He threw a fastball and I just put it in play and was fortunate enough to get it over the third baseman,'' Butts said, admitting that he ``cheated'' and paused to watch the play. It was a pitching duel until the ninth with Mississippi State clinging to a 1-0 lead. Tennessee scored twice in the top half, opening with three straight singles. Reliever Mike Valentine's bad throw on Michael Rivera's bunt single put runners on second and third, allowing both to score on Joey Andrews' single. Valentine (6-0) set down the next three batters to keep Mississippi State within striking distance. Crosby allowed 10 hits in 7-2/3 shutout innings, getting the Vols to hit into a pair of double plays. He left after Chase Headley's double and Valentine got Kelly Edmundson to pop up to centerfield to end the eighth. ``Jon Crosby pitched his heart out,'' Polk said. ``He put the ball in play and he didn't walk anybody and that was key against Tennessee. If you walk batters with their lineup, it's very, very difficult.'' The Vols were playing without leading hitter Eli Iorg, who was injured when hit by a pitch in the opening loss to South Carolina. They stranded 40 runners on base in four tournament games. ``We left way too many guys on base today and that was costly for us,'' coach Rod Delmonico said. ``I am very disappointed in the way we played out there. When you get that many guys on base, you have to find a way for them to score.'' (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)