Feb. 17, 2012
Box Score 
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State scored three runs in the bottom of the second and the No. 34 Bulldogs defeated visiting Washington State 6-2 in nonconference baseball, Friday night.
The Bulldogs (1-0) took a 3-0 lead off sophomore J.D. Leckenby (0-1) in the second inning with three hits, a hit batter and a pair of sacrifice flies.
The Cougars (0-1) responded in the fourth to close within 3-2. Sophomore Collin Slaybaugh reached on an error with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Redshirt-junior Taylor Ard, who tied for the Pac-10 lead in RBI last season, plated Slaybaugh with a single. After senior Derek Jones grounded out, sophomore Jason Monda doubled to score Ard.
In the bottom of the frame, Mississippi State tallied twice on a leadoff walk and three-straight, two-out singles. The Bulldogs capped the scoring with a run in the eighth against the Washington State bullpen.
"We lacked aggressiveness offensively," Cougar Head Coach Donnie Marbut said. "We did some good things overall, but it was not a great first game. Our bullpen pitched well and that was good to see from some of our freshmen arms."
Chris Stratton (1-0), the third of three pitchers for Mississippi State, earned the victory with four-shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out three.
The series continues, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Central/12:30 p.m. Pacific. Live stats are available on www.hailstate.com and radio play-by-play can be heard on www.wsucougars.com and NewsTalk 1150 AM/105.3 FM.
GAME NOTES
Sophomore pitcher J.D. Leckenby made his first-collegiate start...freshman Bryce Jackson, redshirt-freshman Scott Simon, freshman Nick LaRoy and freshman Ty Jackson each made their collegiate debut out of the bullpen.
