"It was a tough day for both ballclubs," said Polk. "Our ballclub looked a little leg weary, as their club also did.
"We got some chink hits. We hit some balls hard, but we got some easy hit. There's no other word for it, but chink hits."
FAU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but MSU tied it up in the top of the second on an RBI single by Joseph Hunter.
FAU regained the lead in their bottom half of the inning when Daniel Cook singled in Tyler Stevens.
Mississippi State used a two-run home run by Jeff Butts to regain the lead, 3-2, in the top of the 5th inning.
Once again FAU came right back in their half of the inning to go back on top 4-3 on an RBI double by Justin Martin and an RBI single by Derek Hutton. MSU starting pitcher Jon Crosby was replaced by Josh Johnson after the first two batters got on.
"I think the heat got to Jon a little bit," said Polk. "It wasn't that Jon was throwing that badly. We brought a lot of pitchers with us, so we have a lot of guys who can throw."
Jon appeared to agree with the decision after the game.
"Oh yeah, it was pretty warm out," said Crosby. "My jersey kept sagging (with sweat) after each inning."
MSU used a four-run 6th inning to put the game away. Corley, LaNinfa, Butts and Hunter all had RBI in the inning.
State finished their scoring with an RBI infield single by Brian LaNinfa in the 9th inning.
MSU reliever Brett Cleveland, who threw 3.2 innings, shut down the FAU hitters in the 9th inning to give MSU the 8-4 victory. And it was just in time because the clouds that has been coming in during the game, started pouring down rain.
"We didn't want to use Brett Cleveland for 3.2 innings, but we hated to lose the ballgame while waiting to have him for tonight's ballgame," said Polk. "It turned out to be a good move."
Josh Johnson, who threw 1.1 innings, earned the victory and is now 5-0 on the season. Cleveland earned his 5th save of the season.
MSU was led at the plate by Brad Jones, Joseph Hunter and Jeff Butts with three hits apiece. Butts also had 3 RBI, two on a home run.
The rain may be used to MSU's advantage, according to Coach Polk.
"Do we want to play tonight?," asked Coach Polk. "Yeah, kinda, I think so. Maybe having an extra hour or two off might help us a little bit."
According to Miami officials, a decision as to whether the game between MSU and Miami will be played will be decided at 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT).
Gene Swindoll is the publisher of the Dawgs' Bite, Powered by GenesPage.com website, the source for Mississippi State sports on Scout.com sports network. You can contact him by emailing swindoll@genespage.com.