No. 17 Mississippi State Downs KU Baseball

March 5, 2005

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of Kansas baseball team fell to No. 17 Mississippi State 5-0 on Saturday in the fourth game of the NBC Classic at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Miss. The loss drops the Jayhawks overall record to 13-7 this season, while the Bulldogs improve to 5-0.

The Jayhawks got off to a rocky start in the game as the Bulldogs sent seven men to the plate and scored four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning off of KU starter Mike Zagurski.

Zagurski would settle down to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for the next six innings, however a strong pitching performance from the MSU pitching staff kept the Jayhawks off balance and limited them to only two hits.

Mississippi State starter Todd Doolittle was impressive in his first outing of the season, holding the Jayhawks hitless in six inning of work. Doolittle allowed only three KU batter to reach base by virtue of walks, while striking out seven.

Junior outfielders A.J. Van Slyke and Gus Milner each recording a single to post the only two KU hits of the game.

The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning on an RBI single by catcher Ed Easily.

Zagurski (3-2) finished with his first career complete game, striking out eight in the game and yielding five runs on 11 hits.

The NBC Classic concludes on Sunday with Kansas and Mississippi squaring off at Noon at Dudy Noble Stadium.