Mississippi State scored seven runs in the seventh inning, capped off by three straight scoring hits to defeat Eastern 9-0 Sunday in Starkville, Miss.

The Panthers lost both ends of their Sunday double-header and third in a row, dropping to 2-10 on the season.

The No. 14 Bulldogs took advantage of an error in the seventh inning, which led to four unearned runs off of Eastern pitcher Ben Kennedy.

The Mississippi State offense spread out its 12 hits in the lineup, as seven different Bulldogs recorded a hit.

Junior Jake Vickerson hit leadoff for the Bulldogs and went 3-fo-5, scoring a run and driving in another.

Senior Derrick Armstrong and junior Seth Heck both had two hits apiece. Armstrong had two RBIs, which came in the Bulldogs’ seventh inning rally.

Freshman Dakota Hudson started for Mississippi State and held the Panthers scoreless, scattering seven hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. He evened his record at 1-1, while Eastern’s Chase Thurston dropped his first decision of the season, pitching 3.1 innings, allowing six runs (six unearned).

Eastern coach Jim Schmitz said despite a 1-3 weekend, he learned some things from the team, which prompted changes.

One decision he made was to move freshman Frankie Perrone from right field to center, which moved junior Caleb Howell over to left field.

“Caleb just isn’t loud out there – he’s not a take charge guy and we need a take charge guy out there in center field,” Schmitz said.

Schmitz said he made the change because of miscommunication in the Eastern outfield during the weekend.

Schmitz also made another change with Perrone, moving him into the leadoff position.

The freshman had a difficult time in Friday’s 10-5 win over Michigan State, going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, but he responded in the next three games, hitting two home runs, driving in eight RBIs and scoring three runs.

Eastern’s other positive note from the weekend was the return of red-shirt senior pitcher Troy Barton, who missed the Panthers’ three-game series against Arkansas Feb. 21-23.

Barton started Sunday against the Bulldogs and went three innings, allowing one hit and no runs. He did walk three, but had two strikeouts and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, educing a double play to end the threat.

“Troy was very good that what he does, getting the ball down, getting ground balls,” Schmitz said.

Game one

Eastern and Michigan State went back and forth for the first six innings, but the Spartans used s seven-run seventh inning to push ahead and win 18-13.

The 31 combined runs were the most in an Eastern game since 2011, when the Panthers beat Morehead State 25-8.

Michigan State and Eastern combined for 38 hits on their 31 runs, as both teams accumulated 55 base runners.

Neither starting pitcher lasted long, as Eastern’s Christian Slazinik and Michigan State’s Chase Rihtarchik were ushered out before reaching the fourth inning.

Junior Jimmy Pickens delivered the big blow in the seventh inning for the Spartans, hitting a three-run home run to left-center field off of Joe Greenfield with two outs.

Pickens’ home run gave Michigan State a 17-13 lead, but the Spartans capped off the seventh inning, scoring one more run on a Justin Hovis RBI-single.

Eastern junior Garrison Stenger took the loss for the Panthers, entering the game in the fifth inning. The left-handed pitcher went 1.2 innings, allowing six earned runs on seven hits.

Stenger is now 0-3 on the season coming out of the Panthers’ bullpen.

Eastern’s next game starts at 2 p.m. Tuesday against Indiana State before it starts Ohio Valley Conference play Friday against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.