June 5, 2005

Final Stats

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Jeff Butts went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs to lead Mississippi State to a 8-4 win over Florida Atlantic in a NCAA regional elimination game Sunday.

With the win, No. 2 seed Mississippi State (42-21) advanced to a 7 p.m. game against top-seed Miami (40-17-1). Third-seeded FAU (37-24) was eliminated from postseason play with the loss.

Mississippi State trailed 4-3 heading into the sixth inning, but the Bulldogs broke the game open in the sixth by scoring four runs on four hits off two FAU pitchers.

Brad Corley single off FAU starter Mike Crotta (5-4), scored Thomas Berkery and tied the game at 4-4, and an RBI groundout by Brian LaNinfa gave the Bulldogs a 5-4 lead and chased Crotta from the game.

Mississippi State scored two more runs off reliever Allen Knight, who allowed an RBI single to Joseph Hunter and a run-scoring double to Butts before escaping the inning.

An RBI single by LaNinfa in the ninth put Mississippi State up 8-4. That was all the Bulldogs would need against the Owls, who built early leads of 1-0 , 2-1 and 4-3 but failed to score a run after the fifth inning.

FAU rattled Bulldogs starter Jon Crosby for three runs on six hits in four innings, but relievers Josh Johnson (5-0) and Brett Cleveland combined to allow just seven hits the rest of the way.

Crotta was ineffective throughout his start, allowing six runs on nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. The 6-foot-7 righthander squandered three leads and allowed the game's lone home run, a two-run shot by Butts that put Mississippi State up 3-2 in the fifth.