With an Intro. to Gerontology paper to turn in at midnight, senior Demarcus Henderson played the hero for the No. 13 Mississippi State University Bulldogs Tuesday night and ensured he would submit his assignment on time.
Henderson struck a single into center field to score junior catcher Zach Randolph and give the Bulldogs a 3-2 win in walk-off fashion over the Southeast Missouri Redhawks at Dudy Noble Field.
Henderson, who leads the team with a .352 batting average, said he is beginning to see the ball better at the plate.
“I’m finally coming into the point where I’m finding my swing a little bit,” Henderson said. “It always happens around this time of year. I don’t know why, it just does, but I’m not complaining. I’ll take it.”
Randolph was able to make it from second base to home thanks to a fielding error by the Redhawks center fielder and score the game-winning run. Henderson finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate, including a walk.
Henderson, who said he had only a few finishing touches to make before submitting his paper, said after he singled to center, he was not sure if the game would end as soon as it did.
“I really didn’t think he was going to score, but when I saw the guy booted it, I was happy because that gave him more time to keep going,” he said.
Bulldog head coach John Cohen said he had confidence in Henderson as he stepped to the plate for the final at bat.
“I really thought that Demarcus was seeing the balls good tonight, and he was going to stay on the ball,” Cohen said. “You didn’t know if he’d get a hit, but I thought he was staying on balls pretty well.”
Offense was at a premium the entire night for the Bulldogs. MSU struggled to get runners across the plate. 
The first run came in the second inning when senior Brett Pirtle needed a sacrifice bunt from Seth Heck and a groundout by Derrick Armstrong to finally cross home. 
The Bulldogs loaded the bases and plated another run in the seventh inning off of a Jake Vickerson sacrifice fly to center.
Cohen said the victory proved his team can fight through adversity and find a way to earn a win.
“We found a way to win on a non-offensive day at Dudy Noble field,” Cohen said. “I think this is kind of a character builder for us. A lot of things did not go our way in this ball game, but we still found a way to win.”
On the mound, the Bulldogs went deep into the bullpen, using five different pitchers throughout the game. 
No pitcher went over two and two-thirds innings. All-American Jonathan Holder (2-1) earned the win for the Bulldogs. Holder gave up only one hit and had three strikeouts in two innings of work.
Cohen said the coaches did not initially plan on utilizing Holder but was glad he could turn the ball over to his ace when the game was on the line.
“We weren’t planning on getting Holder out there, but certainly that was important to us,” Cohen said.
MSU will continue its play at Dudy Noble field on Friday against SEC West opponent Arkansas. 
Friday’s game will start at 6:30 p.m. followed by Saturday at 2 p.m. before closing the series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.