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STARKVILLE, Miss.  – Wes Rea hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to lead Mississippi State to a 2-0 win over University of South Alabama baseball Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field.

MSU’s Demarcus Henderson reached on a hit by pitch to lead off the 12th inning for the Bulldogs, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by C.T. Bradford before Rea hit a 1-1 pitch from Jaguar right-hander Tyler Huffer over the left field wall.

The Bulldogs held South Alabama (12-21) hitless until the ninth inning when Whitt Dorsey delivered a one-out pinch-hit single up the middle. Kevin Knapp entered for Dorsey as a pinch-runner, and advanced to third base on a single to right field by Jordan Patterson. Nick Zaharion was intentionally walked to load the bases for Drew Cofield, who grounded out to third to end the inning.

MSU (21-12) moved the potential game-winning run into scoring position in the bottom-half of the ninth after Kyle Bartsch issued a two-out walk to Mitch Slauter that pushed Sam Frost, who reached on a walk earlier in the frame, to second base. But Bartsch struck out Henderson to end the threat and send the game into extra innings.

South Alabama looked to take the first lead of the game after a one-out single by Nolan Earley and two-out walk by Nick Zaharion in the top of the 11th inning, Drew Cofield followed with a single to center field, but Earley was called out sliding into home on Hunter Renfroe’s throw to the plate.

The Bulldog pitching trio of Brandon Woodruff, Ross Mitchell and Luis Pollorena combined for eight no-hit innings before the Jags got into the hit column on Dorsey’s single in the ninth off of Bulldog reliever Jonathan Holder. Woodruff tossed six innings and fanned eight with one walk.

“(Brandon) Woodruff was outstanding,” USA head coach Mark Calvi said. “He threw his breaking ball for strikes. He had good velocity up to 94 (miles per hour), and he located his fastball. They (Mississippi State) have good arms, and they all did a good job coming out of the bullpen.”

USA right-hander Payton Gardner matched a career high with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 shutout innings, and allowed just two hits while issuing four walks.

“I thought Payton (Gardner) did an outstanding job,” Calvi said. “That’s the guy I recruited last year; that was what I saw. It was good to see him show up. He gave us a chance to win the ballgame. He pitched his heart out, and I am proud of him.”

MSU threatened earlier in the game when it loaded the bases in the bottom of the second following a two-out Jaguar error, single by Tyler Fullerton and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Renfroe that erased a hit by pitch to Rea. But Gardner induced an inning-ending groundout to second base off the bat of Adam Frazier to end the threat.

Gardner then retired the next 10 batters he faced before issuing three walks to load the bases in the top of the seventh. But the right-hander got an inning-ending popup to third off the bat of Fullerton to escape the jam.

Trevor Fitts (3-0) earned the win in 1 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit with a pair of strikeouts and one walk. Huffer (0-1) suffered the loss in 2 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on one hit with a walk and a strikeout.

Rea went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and a run scored to lead MSU at the plate.

Earley, Patterson, Cofield, Dorsey, Brad Hook and Harold Collins had one hit apiece for the Jaguars. South Alabama out-hit the Bulldogs 6-5 in a game in which the only hit for extra bases came on the final play.

“We punched out too many times,” Calvi said. “We didn’t make them defend the ball as much as we needed to. That’s been an on-and-off issue this year, and it was an issue tonight. We need to do a better job going into UALR of putting the ball in play and getting runners home.”

USA will return to action this weekend when it travels to Little Rock, Ark., for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series with UALR.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).