After a grueling four-game stretch in three days, the No. 5 Mississippi State Bulldogs  baseball team stayed perfect on the season to improve its overall record to 9-0. This marks the best start since 2006 when the Dogs won their first 18 games.
Throughout the weekend, the Bulldogs continued their great pitching combined with clutch offense, which is the recipe State has used all season. 
Sophomore Will Cox got the start in the final game versus Samford Sunday and did not disappoint. Cox tied his career high with seven innings pitched and gave up only two hits. Cox also retired 17 batters in a row at one point in the game. 
The right-handed pitcher said he is proud of his off-season transformation and how it has helped his game.
“I think it’s just maturity,” Cox said. “This summer really helped me out and just growing into my body more. Losing weight helped a lot. I think I am more athletic.”
LHP Ross Mitchell also had an impressive outing in the first game of the double-header Saturday in an 8-2 victory over Samford. He captured his second victory on the year in his six innings of relief work, improving to 2-0 on the year.
Mitchell, who announced he was the “upside-down man” and the limbo pole during the rain delayed game with Purdue Friday night, said he tried to go outside on the hitters and then come inside late to force ground balls.
“I just relied on my defense and they came through like they have all year for everybody,” Mitchell said. “We just got to keep that up, and we will keep winning ball games.”
MSU had extra motivation this weekend playing a Samford team who knocked State out of the Tallahassee Regional last season. Mitchell said the Samford lineup was different from last year when it was primarily a fly-ball lineup.
“We came out today just wanting to put it on them because they really disappointed us last year when we threw our best against them and they still beat us,” Mitchell said. “We really wanted to attack them early, and we were able to do that.”
Saturday night, closer Jonathan Holder moved into the top 10 in career saves for MSU, posting his third save of the season and his 12th of his career. Only a sophomore, Holder has struck out 12 of the 20 batters he has faced this season.
At the plate, MSU has struggled early in the season with stringing hits together and pushing across runs. This was not a problem for the Bulldogs this weekend as they averaged 6.5 runs per game during the four-game stretch.
MSU came back from trailing 5-2 against Purdue Saturday night and scored seven runs in the game. Center fielder C.T. Bradford, who also saw time on the mound in the game and struck out both batters he faced, said he was glad the Bulldogs were able to be in a situation like this and respond.
“There will be plenty of times the rest of the season that we are going to be down,” Bradford said. “It’s just a matter of how we handle that.”
Head coach John Cohen said this weekend was a huge learning experience for the Bulldogs. They faced situations they had yet to see in this young season.
Cohen said he liked what he saw and thinks this weekend will serve as a teaching tool for later in the season.
“I think what we learned was who can come off the bench and help us and who can come into the game situationally on the mound,” Cohen said. “I think we have learned pinch-running and pinch-hitting duties and late inning defensive replacements. We had an idea about that, but until kids actually go out and do it, it’s difficult.”
The No. 5 Bulldogs return to action today at 4 p.m. when MSU faces the Rhode Island Rams at Dudy Noble Field.