STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Brent Rooker hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 10^th inning to help No. 22 Mississippi State defeat FIU, 9-7, Wednesday night at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville.

The Bulldogs (20-11) salvaged a split of the two-game series with the Panthers (17-12) after FIU won 8-3 Tuesday.

MSU rallied after FIU jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the top of the third inning Wednesday.

The Panthers sent 11 batters to the plate in the third inning. Javier Valdes and Nick Day each had two-run singles to fuel the six-run third inning.

The Bulldogs chipped away at the FIU advantage. Rooker hit the first of his two, two-run home runs on the night in the bottom of the fourth inning off Alex Demchak. Cain Spangler (0-1) gave up the second homer in the 10^th. Rooker leads the Southeastern Conference in nearly every offensive category, including 12 home runs.

Ahead 6-5 in the top of the eighth, the Panthers added a run when Kolby Follis, who was pinch-running for Day, scored on a wild pitch from third base. Follis just eluded the tag of MSU catcher Josh Lovelady. The play at the plate was reviewed on instant replay, which the SEC uses.

MSU tied the score 7-7 with two runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Bulldogs closer Spencer Price (3-1) entered the game in the eighth and pitched 2 1/3 innings to record the win.

Irving Lopez, Valdes, Day, Jack Schaaf and Kobe Lopez each had two hits.

Next up for FIU, the Panthers head south to Hattiesburg to open a three-game conference series against Southern Miss starting Friday at 7 p.m. EDT.