Baseball BULLDOG BITS
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Mississippi State Bulldogs battled in game one of a top 25 showdown with No. 6 Florida on Friday night at Condron Family Ballpark, but the Dawgs could not hold onto the lead and dropped game one of the series 7-6.
MSU faltered late due to the inability of the bullpen to shut the door. Bulldogs Cam Schuelke, Tyler Davis, Brooks Auger and Nolan Stevens gave up five runs on five hits with five walks in less than three innings.
“We play really good for the first 7 1/2 innings,” MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. “We just don't throw strikes from guys who just have pitched great all year and I don't know why.”
The four-run fourth inning pushed the Dawgs ahead 5-2 in the fourth. They held a fourrun lead heading into the eighth inning after an RBI single from Bryce Chance tacked on another run in the seventh. MSU couldn't hold on.
Chance went 2-for-4 on the night, collecting two RBIS. Dakota Jordan, Hunter Hines, Connor Hujsak, Aaron Downs, Logan Kohler, and Johnny Long all added a hit to the box score, bringing the team's total to eight hits.
Khal Stephen drew the Friday night start on the mound, going six innings of work and punching out eight with just two walks and three hits surrendered.
Mississippi State is back for game two of the series today. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted on SECN+.
No. 13 Mississippi State secured its third-straight ranked win over an Southeastern Conference opponent Friday evening by blanking 56th-ranked Ole Miss 7-0.
The Bulldogs (14-5, 6-2 SEC) have been playing an exceptional brand of tennis lately and have won nine of their last 11 matches overall and are currently tied for third in the conference standings.
"We've been talking about taking the hard route versus the easy route," MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. "Some of the guys are even writing that on their shoes 'hard route.' You have a choice to go easy or go hard. I think after that Kentucky match, we've really embraced that analogy and have just been pushing ourselves to embrace being uncomfortable when things get hard and knowing that's how we're going to get better. We're doing that on all six courts and feeding off each other's energy."
On Friday, MSU felt pretty good about knocking off its in-state rival for the first time since 2019 and snapping a three-match skid to the Rebels. Doing so in such convincing fashion made the win even sweeter.
“That felt great after three years,” Bulldog senior Carles Hernandez said. “We take it as a normal match, but at the end of the day, it's a rivalry so there's some tension there, so that felt great to win that in my fourth year here at home. It felt amazing and the crowd was electrifying.”