After suffering their first series loss at Alabama and dropping their first non-conference contest of the season Tuesday, the No. 3 Mississippi State Bulldogs must now turn their attention to their spring homecoming series this weekend against the visiting Bulldogs from Georgia.
Georgia, who is 3-6 in the SEC, is coming off of an embarrassing home-series sweep at the hands of the Ole Miss Rebels.
Mississippi State is also coming off a series loss at Alabama last weekend, dropping its SEC mark to 5-3 and its national ranking from first to third-a ranking that may fall further because of Tuesday’s 12-13 loss to Louisiana Tech. State is currently second in the SEC Western Division behind the Tide.
The Dawgs will look to rebound by taking advantage of the extra crowd normally on campus for the spring football scrimmage and the rest of the weekend’s festivities.
“Hopefully the weather will be good,” MSU head coach Ron Polk said. “We’ve got a good opponent coming in and expect a lot of excitement with the big crowds. It’s fun for the kids, and it’s fun for the fans.”
“You get a lot more people here than on your normal SEC weekend, and we draw pretty good regularly,” Bulldog reliever Brett Cleveland said. “It’s one of those weekends everyone always looks forward to.”
Assistant coach Tommy Raffo, a Bulldog first baseman from 1987 to 1990, said the long-standing tradition of Super Bulldog Weekend is a special environment, one that is difficult to put into words.
“The atmosphere is unbelievable. It resembles a post-season event,” Raffo said. “There are just a lot of people on the campus and a lot of fans come out to support the Bulldogs. It is really difficult to explain.”
Tuesday: Louisiana Tech 13,
MSU 12
Despite their 22-3 record and No. 3 national ranking, the Mississippi State Bulldogs found a way to accomplish two new feats this week; shutout an opponent and blow a seven run lead.
With two outs collected in the bottom of the ninth, the Maroon and White led Louisiana Tech by six runs, 12-6. However, a single by Jericho Jones would slip through the left side of the infield to give home-standing Tech new life. Jones’ single would stand to be the first of eight consecutive hits which would plate seven runs, earning a 13-12 win for the Tech Bulldogs. Mike Valentine was charged with the loss.
“Baseball is a game of 27 outs. We were able to get only 26 tonight,” Polk said. “It can be a humbling game. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a game with a finish like this.”
The surreal comeback would overshadow what had to that point been an excellent outing for the Bulldogs, already trying to recover from losing their first SEC series last weekend at Alabama. The Bulldogs had amassed their lead by scoring six runs in the first three innings, then adding two more in the fifth, three more in the seventh and an additional run in the top of the ninth.
Brad Jones led all Bulldogs with three hits, one a home run and three runs batted in. Starter Jon Crosby went seven innings and allowed only five hits before the late meltdown by the Bulldog bullpen.
Wednesday Doubleheader:
MSU 15, Louisiana-Monroe 4
MSU 11, Louisiana-Monroe 0
In the second game of Wednesday’s double-header at Trustmark Park in Pearl the Bulldogs sent the Louisiana-Monroe Indians hope scoreless, earning their first shutout of the campaign with an 11-0 decision.
The win was the second of the evening for the Bulldogs, treating the fans in central Mississippi to a 15-4 onslaught victory just hours before.
In the early contest, State plated five runs in the bottom of the first frame; three on Indian walks and the final two on a Jeff Butts single.
State would score two in the second, extending its lead to seven runs before the Indians finally got on the board with a two-run Ben Soignier home run in the top of the third.
The Dawgs would score eight more over the next four innings and between the two contests would slap an amazing 27 hits in seven hours of baseball.
Aaron Weatherford earned the win for the Bulldogs in the opening contest, coming into the game in relief of starter Trent Hill and pitching two perfect innings.
In the nightcap, Matt Lea went a career-high seven scoreless innings for the Maroon and White, allowing only two hits and striking out five.
Jeffrey Rea paced the Bulldogs with three hits in the opener, while senior co-captain Thomas Berkery matched that total to lead the team in the second game, extending his SEC-leading hitting streak to 25 games.