Forty-three hits, 38 runs and two unexpected servings of shaving cream pie to the face was all it took for Mississippi State to get back on track as it took its second SEC series of the season, two games to one, over Super Bulldog Weekend.
It was an offensive explosion for the Bulldogs (19-17, 5-10 SEC) as they scored over 10 runs in each contest. Leading the way at the plate was a trio of MSU seniors, Connor Powers, Ryan Duffy and Russ Sneed.
Powers combined for nine hits, six RBIs and a home run over the weekend, while Sneed had seven hits and nine RBI’s. Duffy went four-for-five in Saturday’s win, with four RBI’s. Cohen said his seniors are carrying the team down the stretch of the season.
“Our seniors are the ones right now that are carrying the whole load,” Cohen said. “They want this desperately, and they’ve done a much better job of taking the bull by the horns and leading this ball club.”
While it was the seniors making headlines at the plate, a group of freshman pitchers were generating buzz on the mound.
Freshman Chris Stratton (4-3) threw his first complete game of the season in front of the 11,089 fans in attendance on Saturday as the Bulldogs went on to win 11-7.
Stratton gave up six earned runs and struck out seven Volunteer batters before receiving a shaving cream pie to the face during post-game interviews. Duffy said Stratton is playing like someone who is older than a freshman.
“Chris had a heck of a game today,” Duffy said. “He’s not a freshman, he’s like a junior in my eyes. That kid is a warrior.”
On Sunday, a trio of freshman pitchers combined to keep the Volunteers in check as they pitched with a comfortable lead. Luke Bole pitched six innings (his longest outing at MSU), gave up four earned runs and scattered eight hits.
Kendall Graveman pitched two innings in the win, and Ben Bracewell struck out two batters and gave up zero runs in one inning of work. All three hit above 90 MPH on the radar gun.
Bole, after receiving the weekend’s second helping of shaving cream pie from his teammates, said the team was starting to have more fun together for this series.
“I think the reason we’ve had good success today and yesterday is we just started having fun,” Bole said.
Cohen said he was pleased with what he saw from the three freshman hurlers in Sunday afternoon’s 14-6 victory.
“We had three freshman arms go out there and throw a baseball 91 mph or better,” Cohen said. “That doesn’t happen a lot in this league. Those three kids are gonna be special.”
While Cohen said he liked what he saw Sunday, he was not around to see Stratton’s performance in person. The head coach was ejected from Friday night’s game after arguing a called third strike against Sneed. Because he had already been ejected once this season, he was suspended for Saturday’s game. Cohen used his day off to go on a recruiting trip.
Friday night’s game was a slugfest that saw Tennessee hit five home runs as they won 15-13, which at the time dropped the Bulldogs into the bottom of the SEC standings. The two teams combined used 11 pitchers in the game. After 4 1/2 innings, Tennessee was up 14-9. MSU scored four of the last five runs in the game, but it was not enough as they came up two runs short of victory in a four-hour marathon.
Saturday’s game, which was played in front of the 14th largest crowd in Dudy Noble Field history, was tied 5-5 going into the bottom of the seventh. The Bulldogs then broke the game open in the seventh, scoring six runs, highlighted by a three-run home run by Duffy. From there, MSU went on to win 11-7.
State cruised through Sunday’s game, scoring five runs in both the third and fifth innings as they went on to a 14-6 win. Powers hit three doubles in the game. After Sunday’s game, Cohen praised the consistency of the power-hitting senior.
“Connor has just been so unbelievably consistent for us,” Cohen said. “Four out of every five times he comes to the plate he’s gonna get to first base . that’s what you call leading by example.”
From here, the Bulldogs will continue their uphill battle to make it to the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. The top eight teams in the conference make the field, and currently the Bulldogs are tied with Alabama and Kentucky for eighth place.
MSU will face Alcorn State at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday before traveling to Tuscaloosa next weekend for a series with SEC West foe Alabama.