April 17, 2008

University, MS (UWIRE) -- Mississippi State skipper Ron Polk found a way to muster one final victory against his longtime rival Tuesday night.

State's cleanup hitter Tyler Moore delivered a one-out single in the eighth inning that scored Grant Hogue from third base and gave the Bulldogs a 6-5 victory over Ole Miss.

Mississippi State (15-21) won the second annual Governor's Cup at TrustMark Park after taking last year's game 14-9. Ole Miss (24-13) had previously won five consecutive in the series when it was known as the Mayor's Trophy game.

Polk, who has announced his retirement effective the end of the season, improved to 89-55 against Ole Miss in 29 seasons as the head coach at Mississippi State.

The game was also the 150th time overall Polk has faced Ole Miss. He coached Georgia to a 3-3 record against the Rebels in two seasons in Athens.

"It's not about me, but I guess it is my 150th game against Ole Miss and I guess I won my fair share," Polk said. "But I just told coach Bianco and his staff they've done a good job and good luck in the future, but don't beat the Bulldogs too much."

Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco reflected after the game on what Polk's 1,300-plus career wins have meant to the sport.

"Certainly you think about his career and he's meant so much to college baseball," Bianco said. "Coach is a legend not only in this state, but for baseball fans throughout the country."

Nathan Baker (1-4) took the loss in relief for Ole Miss. Baker pitched 1.1 innings and allowed three runs on three hits. The sophomore struggled with his command and walked two batters.

"My problem tonight was just getting late on the count; I was throwing too many balls and that kind of cost me toward the end of the game," Baker said. "I was just opening up too much and leaving everything up and over the plate."

Aaron Weatherford (1-0) picked-up the victory on the mound for Mississippi State. Weatherford worked the final 1.2 innings and did not allow a run on one hit.

Ole Miss played uncharacteristically poor in the field and committed three errors on the evening, which led to two unearned runs for the Bulldogs.

Rebel starting pitcher Brett Bukvich was the victim of the poor defensive play in his 3.2 inning of work.

Bukvich allowed three runs, but only two of those were earned. Ole Miss had the chance to escape the third inning after giving up one run, but an error on Zach Miller at second base allowed an additional run to score.

"We just didn't play well defensively and gave them too many opportunities," Bianco said. "(Bukvich) probably deserved a much better fate than he had; we made it tough on him and didn't field the ball very well."

Cullan Kight led Ole Miss offensively with two runs batted in. Kight pinch-hit in the sixth inning with the bases loaded, and delivered a two-out singe that scored Jeremy Travis and Logan Power to briefly give Ole Miss a 5-4 lead.

Ole Miss will next travel to South Carolina for a three-game series against the Gamecock beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.

(C) 2008 Daily Mississippian via UWIRE