MSU drops final game of Kleberg
For Starkville Daily News
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Despite winning the its first two games of the weekend, No. 21 Mississippi State was unable to win on the final day of the Kleberg Bank Classic at Whataburger Field, falling 6-3 to Texas A&M Corpus-Christi.
MSU (3-4) was limited to seven hits, while watching a three-game winning streak come to an end.
“Even though seven hits doesn’t show it, we had some really good at-bats,” MSU interim head coach Gary Henderson said. “We have made a lot of improvement there. On the mound, we got the leadoff hitter in seven innings. That means you have to do a better job of putting away batters and closing out innings. We just need a little more efficiency and focus on the mound.”
The Bulldogs erased a 1-0 deficit by scoring once in the third inning and a 3-1 deficit by scoring twice in the fifth inning. The Islanders moved ahead for good with a single score in the sixth inning and then got a two-run single (on an apparent threerun home run changed by a base running error) in the seventh inning.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (6-1) struck first after MSU could not cash in in the first inning. Jake Mangum doubled and Hunter Stovall singled but each runner was stranded. The Islanders then scored on a two-out RBI-single by Thomas Jeffries.
A solo home run by freshman infielder Justin Foscue got the Bulldogs on the board in the third inning.
The big blow in the Islanders’ fourth inning was a two-out, two-run single by Andruid Martinez after the bases were loaded on walks.
In the fifth inning, Foscue got things going with a single. Mangum tripled and Stovall followed with a game-tying sacrifice fly.
Martinez broke the tie with a two-out, RBI-single in the sixth inning. Drake Osborn had the big hit in the Texas A&MCorpus Christi seventh inning.
Mangum had three hits, while Stovall and Foscue each had two hits for the Bulldogs.
Jacob Billingsley drew the start for State. In 3.2 innings of work, Billingsley allowed four hits and three runs (all earned), with four walks and a strikeout. Zach Neff finished the contest, allowing six hits and three runs (two earned) in 4.1 innings of work, with six strikeouts and no walks.
The Bulldogs now travel to Edinburg, Texas to continue its stretch of four games in four days at UT Rio Grande Valley with a 7 p.m. first pitch from the UT Rio Grande Valley Baseball Stadium.