Bulldogs give up 12 unanswered runs in loss to Wildcats

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Fresh off of a very difficult loss to Kentucky to start the series on Friday night, Mississippi State looked ready to fight back.

The Bulldogs got a stellar first time through the order from pitcher Landon Gartman and two big home runs from Hunter Hines to take the lead. In the fourth, the wheels started to fall off and then the car caught on fire.

There were 12-unanswered runs that followed for the Wildcats as MSU couldn't hit it, field it or pitch it and eventually lost a 12-3 decision.

It was another frustrating loss that Bulldog coach Chris Lemonis thought was, again, full of self-inflicted wounds.

“It was a lack of commanding the strike zone,” Lemonis said. “The seven games prior, we pounded the strike zone (and) we played good defense. Right there, we don't throw enough strikes, especially when you take the momentum of the game. We've got to get better. That's poor baseball.”

The MSU pitchers walked eight batters and hit two more. Add in the fact that there was an error in the game and a passed ball that led to runs and it was a game that has looked all too familiar to Bulldog fans already this year.

Out of the 10 free bases given away, six of those runs scored. Gartman had mowed down seven of the first 10 batters he faced with strikeouts and allowed only one player to reach in the first three innings. In the fourth, and holding a 3-0 lead, Gartman walked the leadoff man and then gave up three runs on a home run that drove in a player that walked and another that was hit by pitch.

The game imploded on Gartman in the fifth inning with two walks, a hit batter and two hits that led to a couple of runs before an out was even recorded. That was a five-run inning that escalated the game to 8-3 and Gartman ended the day with three hits, eight runs, four walks and seven strikeouts.

Brock Tapper and Logan Forsythe gave up seven hits and four runs with three walks in three innings pitched together. Will Gibbs got a strikeout and had a walk in a scoreless eighth innings.

Hitting didn't help the Bulldogs, either. They had the load carried on the back of first baseman Hunter Hines as he was 3-for-4 with three RBI on two home runs and a double. Beyond him, the team had just two more hits the entire game with three walks.

That came after the promising start when Hines hit a home run to right center in the second inning and delivered another on a two-run shot in the fourth inning to go up 3-0. After the damage was done early, MSU didn't score again.

With the loss, the series win went to Kentucky and dropped the Bulldogs to 13-7 for the year and 0-2 in Southeastern Conference play. More notably, State has lost an incredible 13-straight games dating back to last season in SEC play. That is one loss away from becoming a school record losing streak as the Bulldogs tied the most losses consecutively that the 1975 team endured.

Lemonis doesn't put much thought into that being a trend for this year's team, however.

“It's two right now for this team,” Lemonis said. “Last year is last year. We haven't pitched up here as well as we could. We lost a tough game (Friday) night, that game could have gone either way. This game could have gone either way. We just let go of it there in the fourth inning.”

Graham Yntema will be on the mound for the Bulldogs today as the two teams will meet at 11 a.m. State will be having to try and salvage a game from the series to end the losing streak.

For Hines, frustrations are there for the team even after just recently running up a seven-game winning streak.

“We've got to start winning,” Hines said. “We don't like to lose. We played a good ball game (Friday) night. That one hurt. (Saturday) we didn't play a good game and it got away from us.”