“A changeup, a curveball and a fastball.”
Jackson State threw a little bit of everything at MSU senior Ryan Duffy Tuesday night, but nothing was getting by him. The outfielder became the seventh player in MSU baseball history to hit three home runs in one game in the Bulldogs’ 18-2 rout of the Tigers.
The win provided a much needed lift for Cohen’s squad as they start a nine-game home stand.
He said his team needed this kind of win, which they have been looking for all year.
“We needed a game like this, for a lot of reasons,” Cohen said. “I think everybody in our league has had several games like this, and for whatever reason we have not had as many as others.”
Of the seven times in school history that a Bulldog has hit three home runs in a game, Cohen has been involved in three of them.
He was a player in 1990 when teammate Tommy Raffo pulled the hat trick against Delta State. As the head coach at Kentucky, he watched Connor Powers hit three homeruns against his Wildcats in 2008, and he saw Duffy’s performance Tuesday as the head man at MSU.
The win also gives MSU a three-peat over Jackson State in the “big three” sports of football, men’s basketball and baseball. The Bulldogs beat the Tigers last September in Dan Mullen’s first game as a head coach, and Rick Stansbury’s basketball Bulldogs beat JSU in the opening round of the NIT.
On the mound, Greg Houston picked up the win for the Bulldogs after throwing three scoreless innings and allowing only one hit. Houston and five other MSU hurlers only allowed five hits and zero earned runs on the evening.
Jackson State scored the first run of the game off of a Bulldog throwing error, but MSU would go on to score the next 18 runs before JSU scored again.
The Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom half of the first inning, and then went on to score six more in the second, highlighted by a two-run homerun by Duffy, his first of the night.
Duffy’s second home run, and his most impressive of the night, came in the bottom of the sixth inning. His shot easily cleared the centerfield wall and gave MSU a 14-1 lead.
It was the same story next time Duffy came up to bat, as he hit his third home run over the right field fence. His third home run tied him for the most in a game in MSU history, while the 15 bases he accumulated in the game is a new school record.
Duffy said he was honored to hold a record at a program with as much tradition as Mississippi State.
“There are some really great players that have played here in the past,” Duffy said. “I’m pretty shell-shocked to even be mentioned with people like that. It’s a great honor.”
Senior first baseman Connor Powers also had a solid day at the plate, going two for four with four RBI’s, while junior center fielder Jaron Shepherd had a double and a triple in the game.
Former MSU quarterback Trae Rutland started in right field for Jackson State and went 0-for-2 in the game.
The Bulldogs will now turn their attention to this weekend’s series with Arkansas, who is second in the SEC West with a 6-3 conference record.
Cohen said Caleb Reed will be the starting pitcher for Friday’s game, but that freshman Chris Stratton (3-3, 3.75 ERA) will get the start on Saturday.
“I think we’re gonna make a pretty big change on Friday night,” Cohen said. “[Pitching coach Butch Thompson] and I are still waiting. Saturday, for sure, will be Stratton, but Friday will be different.”
Cohen also said the Sunday starter is “TBD.”
Cutline: Senior Ryan Duffy runs toward first base after getting a hit in
an early-season game against South Alabama last spring.