The No. 21 Bulldogs hosted the Jaguars of South Alabama and came back from a 3-0 deficit to claim the win 7-3 over the visiting team. Gavin Collins was the offensive show, blasting two two-run home runs over the left field wall to spark Mississippi State .
MSU went down early in the third inning when freshman pitcher Noah Hughes allowed three runs by the South Alabama hitters. Ryan Cyr came in relief for him though and got the Bulldogs out of the inning without any further damage.
The Bulldogs then began to chip away at the lead in the fourth inning. Collins crushed a two-run home run to cut the lead to 3-2 for South Alabama. In the sixth inning, Brent Rooker came in to pitch hit for Nathaniel Lowe and he hit a double down the left field line to score Cody Brown and Jack Kruger and take the 4-2 lead.
Mississippi State never looked back, scoring again in the seventh with a Jacob Robson RBI single and then again in the eighth inning with another Collins two- run home run. That home run put MSU’s lead to 7-3 and they closed the game out from there.
Besides the three runs and three hits that Hughes allowed in the third inning, the other seven Bulldogs that stepped on the mound did not allow a single hit. Kale Breaux, Cyr, Konnor Pilkington, Ryan Rigby, Ethan Small, Zac Houston and Blake Smith all came in and pitched hitless innings.
Breaux and Small were the only pitchers to throw over an inning, with Breaux throwing two complete innings to start the game and Small throwing two and one third of an inning while also tallying the win for the Bulldogs.
Head coach John Cohen said he was extremely pleased with the way the team performed on the field in the mid week ballgame.
“We had a good look at our pitching staff tonight,” Cohen said. “These young arms are getting excited out there. They just need to work on their velocity. Offensively, Collins really came through for us with a great night.”
Following the win over South Alabama, MSU extends their record to 9-3-1 on the season and is hosting the University of Oregon at Dudy Noble Field this weekend for a Top 25 Matchup. The two teams will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
