From school reports

STARKVILLE — A four-run first inning took the suspense out of Mississippi State’s 4-2 Southeastern Conference baseball win over No. 22 Ole Miss at Dudy Noble Field.

The home team won the conference series between in-state rivals for the first time since 2007. Fourth-year MSU head coach John Cohen has won three of four series match-ups with the Rebels.

MSU improved to 27-17 overall and 10-11 in league play, while Ole Miss fell to 28-16 and 10-11. The Bulldogs enter the final three weeks of the season in a three-way tie for third in the Western Division.

“It’s hard to win a baseball game with two hits,” Cohen said. “You can do that when you have this type of pitching. Pollo (Luis Pollorena) gave us a tremendous start today. He really set the tone and got our defense back into the dugout quickly on numerous occasions.”

In his first conference start of the season, Pollorena (3-0) matched a season-high with 5.1 innings pitched and set a new career high with seven strikeouts. Against Ole Miss this season, Pollorena threw 10.2 innings, allowing seven hits and one earned run, with two walks and 12 strikeouts.