STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State used a four-run fifth inning to break open a 1-1 tie Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field, going on to win 9-3 and take the series from Missouri State.
 
The 18^th-ranked Bulldogs (5-1) scored on a two-out double in the first inning and the Bears (2-3) evened the scored in the third when two walks and two fielder's choices set up Nick Rodriguez scoring on a wild pitch.
 
Starter Jackson Holmes turned in a solid 4.2 innings before running into trouble in the fifth. The Bulldogs led off with a home run, then eventually loaded the bases before smacking a three-run triple on an 0-2 pitch to lead 5-1.
 
Rodriguez doubled and scored on Dylan Robertson's sacrifice fly to make it 5-2 in the seventh, and the Bulldogs responded in the bottom half by loading the bases with two out and scoring on an infield single and twice more thanks to an error for an 8-2 margin.
 
Mississippi State added another run in the eighth inning and Caden Bogenpohl doubled in the ninth and scored on a Zack Stewart grounder after Stewart had walked in his previous four plate appearances.
 
The Bears drew nine walks and left 12 runners on base, including a total of nine in scoring position across six different innings.
 
Garrett Ferguson had the best outing of MoState's five relievers, striking out all three batters he faced on a total of 12 pitches.
 
The series concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday