Auburn vs. Mississippi State baseball reschedules game to Sunday doubleheader following inclement weather

The Auburn Tigers and Mississippi State Bulldogs were set to do battle in game two of the three-game series on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, the weather in Starkville, MS, didn’t get the memo and brought in rain for much of the afternoon. And with that being the case, Saturday’s action has been postponed, making Sunday a doubleheader between the two SEC rivals.

Both teams announced on their respective social media accounts that Saturday’s game had been canceled and that Sunday’s game had been rescheduled, making it a doubleheader.

In their first tilt of the weekend, Mississippi State dominated Auburn, cruising to an 8-1 victory on Friday night. Starting pitcher Khal Stephen commanded the ball with seven innings of work. Stephen picked up his sixth win of the season while allowing just six hits, one earned run with two walks, and an impressive 11 strikeouts.

Offensively, Connor Hujsak led the Bulldogs at the plate. Hujsak finished Friday night’s contest 2-5 with two RBI’s. Bryce Chance also contributed to the offense going 2-4 with an RBI of its own, which came from a solo shot home run in the fourth inning.

Thrilling finish in defensive battle between ACC’s Duke and Virginia Tech

Saturday evening’s ACC showdown on the mound between the Duke Blue Devils and Virginia Tech Hokies was a pitching duel and defensive battle that required extra innings to name a victor. And while the game featured some top-notch defensive plays and next-level pitching, it was a late mistake by the Blue Devils that gave the Hokies the win at home.

With runners on the corners and two outs down and the bottom of the 11th inning, Virginia Tech’s Riley Martin hit a ground ball straight to the Duke second baseman, who easily fielded the ball and tossed it to the first baseman for what would have been seemingly an easy out and close the inning. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, their first baseman dropped the easy pitching catch, allowing Martin to reach first and the Virginia Tech runner on third to cross home and score the game-winning run.

Pitching was the name of the game for Virginia Tech on Saturday night. The Hokies bullpen combined 12 strikeouts and held the Blue Devils hitters to just four hits on the day. Hokies senior pitcher Grant Manning was given the win out of the bullpen, which moved him to 2-0 in the season.