No. 10 Mississippi State (23-9-1, 8-4) surprised the country with an upset over No. 1 Florida Gators (29-5, 8-4).
The surprise factor was not that they did it, but how they did it. MSU not only won the series in Gainesville, but they won after losing on Friday night.
MSU’s ace Dakota Hudson gave up an uncharacteristic six runs in an 8-2 loss to Florida Friday night. It was the first time MSU had lost on a Friday and was the first Friday loss for MSU they Bulldogs lost to UCLA on March 4.
MSU came through in game two on Saturday, taking the game by a blowout score of 10-4. MSU took a commanding lead in the first inning, going up 4-0, and the game was broken wide open when Cody Brown smashed a grand slam in the third inning, giving MSU five runs. Ryan Rigby got the win on the mound in relief of Austin Sexton.
Rigby pitched the last five innings of the game, giving up only one run.
MSU Head coach John Cohen praised Rigby’s performance.
“Can’t say enough about Ryan Rigby,” Cohen said. “He just kept pouring strikes into the zone.”
The series came down to a rubber match between the Gators and MSU. Sunday games have not been kind to MSU this season as they have not won a single game three in any SEC series this season.
To make matters worse, MSU has had awful pitching on Sundays, but after a strong mid-week game, Konner Pilkington took the mound for MSU and started a weekend series for the first time.
Pilkington impressed in his first SEC start. He threw the first four innings of the game and did not give up a run. He left the mound with a 1-0 lead over Florida after a solo home run from Ryan Gridley. Zac Houston came in relief and earned the win. Pilkington went longer than any Sunday starter for MSU this season. They shutout the Gators, winning the rubber match 2-0.
“So proud of our pitchers today,” Cohen said. “We were in the right place at the right time and made the right pitches.”
MSU won’t have much time to rest as the schedule is still tough ahead. Next Saturday MSU will take on Texas A&M (25-7, 7-5) on Super Bulldog Weekend. A&M will be coming off a sweep of Georgia.
After that, MSU looks to play LSU (21-10, 6-6) in Baton Rouge.
The series win moved MSU up to 14th in Warrennolan.com’s RPI (Rating Percentage Index) and has put MSU in prime position to host a regional as well as earn a national seed in the NCAA Tournament.
MSU moved up in every ranking after the series win coming to either No. 2 or No. 3 in every poll.
Cohen said he is taking everything in strides right now.
“This is a marathon though,” Cohen said. “We aren’t even halfway through yet.”
MSU will be back in action this Wednesday at Dudy Noble against Memphis at 6:30 p.m.
