STARKVILLE — Each coach needed only a few words to sum up what happened Tuesday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff baseball coach Carlos James insisted his team came to Starkville expecting to win.
Mississippi State coach John Cohen bemoaned the fact that the Bulldogs “just didn’t compete. Didn’t fight for it.”
With that, the Golden Lions left town with a 3-2 win and saddled the No. 9 Bulldogs with their first loss.
“Give Pine Bluff all the credit in the world,” said Cohen, whose team fell to 13-1. “They came out here to win a baseball game today and they played very well. They deserved every bit of it. We just didn’t do the things necessary to compete. Offensively, we didn’t even compete a little bit.”
In a game that featured a 51-minute rain delay, the Bulldogs had six hits and never led.
“It’s huge for my kids,” said James, whose team improved to 4-7. “My kids came out and played well. We did everything the right way. We didn’t have to play perfect to win. We just had to play the game. That’s what baseball is. It doesn’t matter how big the schools are or what the names say on the jerseys. It’s about who plays the best that day.”
Arkansas-Pine Bluff led 2-0 after one inning and used a one-out rally in the top of the eighth to take the lead for good.
In the first, UAPB capitalized against freshman pitcher Jesse McCord, who was in his third career start. Two weeks after giving up four runs to Cincinnati in the first two innings of a 19-5 win, McCord hit one and gave up two hits in the top of the first. The big blow was a two-run single by Vladimir Gomez.
While MSU tied the game in the fourth, UAPB seized control in the top of the eighth, as No. 3 hitter Andre Davis drew a bases-loaded walk from closer Trevor Fitts to force home the go-ahead run.
Staked to a 3-2 lead, Davis — who started the game at first base before pitching the final three innings — never relented. He allowed four hits in the final two innings to earn his first victory.
Davis, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound left-hander, coaxed a weak groundout from cleanup hitter Ryan Gridley to end the game.
“He’s lights out when he gets out there,” James said. “It was a total team effort. I’m just so proud of my guys.”
Cohen was on the other end of the spectrum. After MSU outscored its opponents 115-34 in the first 13 games, there was no evidence of that offensive firepower Tuesday. MSU struggled to put rallies together, struck out a season-high 10 times, and left 10 men on base, seven in scoring position.
“Our kids really, for the most part, were not prepared to play on offense,” Cohen said. “We did a great job defensively. Offensively, we just checked out. We really did not compete at all, and that’s disappointing.”
Only senior shortstop Seth Heck had multiple hits. The rest of the line had four hits in 28 at-bats. The only inning MSU created havoc offensively was the fourth, when Heck had an RBI single and No. 2 hitter Jake Vickerson chased home a run with a fielder’s choice.
Other than that, MSU never seriously threatened four pitchers. Davis, UAPB’s ace, earned the win.
“I was just trying to get ahead of their hitters,” Davis said. “They are a very good team, but we weren’t going to be intimidated. Once we got going, we knew we could beat them.”
For Cohen, the loss wasn’t as distressing as the way it unfolded.
“We didn’t put our nose in there and compete the way we should every day,” Cohen said. “That’s my fault. I have to get in their heads and make sure we are ready to do what we are supposed to do.”
McCord lasted 1 2/3 innings (30 pitches). Daniel Brown came on to pitch a career-high four innings. He exited after the rain delay. Zac Houston pitched 1 1/3 innings before giving way to Ross Mitchell (3-1), who took the loss. The senior left-hander allowed two hits and a run in one-third of an inning. Fitts surrendered a hit and a walk in 1 2/3 innings.
“We expect freshmen to make mistakes, and when they do, we should have older guys picking them up,” Cohen said. “We didn’t have that.”
Two of MSU’s first 13 wins came by three runs or less. The loss was MSU’s second one-run game of the year. To Cohen, the setback isn’t the end of the world, but it might serve as a wakeup call.
“There have been some really good teams in MSU history that have lost to teams they shouldn’t have lost to,” Cohen said. “We have to use this and get better.”
MSU will play host to San Diego at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Game 1 of a three-game series.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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