STARKVILLE — All Mississippi State second baseman Hunter Stovall had left to show was a bit of baserunning.
Entering Sunday night’s game against No. 25 Texas Tech, Stovall already had shown he was one of the better hitters at Dudy Noble Field. He also had fielded his position without making an error. His chance to make an impact as a runner came in the fourth inning, when he reached third base as the go-ahead run.
Shortstop Ryan Gridley’s attempt at a sacrifice fly was shorter than desired, but Stovall didn’t care.
“I was making it,” the sophomore said. “It was pretty shallow. I got to third and (MSU’s third-base coach Will Coggin) was like, ‘Wait, wait, wait … do it.’ ”
Stovall’s go-ahead run set the stage for freshman pitcher Riley Self, who pitched five solid innings in relief to lead MSU to an 8-5 victory.
Earlier Sunday, MSU (3-1) beat Western Illinois 10-9 in 11 innings.
Stovall’s go-ahead run earned him a modicum of redemption after he ran through a stop signal and was tagged out at the plate Friday night in a 5-2 loss to Texas Tech.
“He ran through the stop sign on Friday night, but that’s just indicative of who he is,” MSU coach Andy Cannizaro said. “He plays hard, plays with his hair on fire. He played phenomenal for us all weekend.”
Stovall went 8-for-15 (.533) for the weekend with three RBIs and two walks. He struck out only once.
Self came on in relief of Ryan Cyr, who went the first four innings. He allowed one hit, a solo home run, walked one and struck out seven.
“You’re talking about a young kid that was just making his second appearance in college baseball,” Cannizaro said.
The solo home run by first baseman Hunter Hargrove brought the Red Raiders within two and ended Self’s streak of 10 consecutive batters retired. He regrouped to strike out the next batter.
“As soon as he hit it, I knew it was gone,” Self said. “I didn’t turn and look at it. I just kind of smiled. Everybody was like, ‘It’s all right.’ I know it’s all right, we’re still winning. I just have to keep pitching how I’ve been pitching. It wasn’t that hard.”
Cannizaro complimented Self’s “wipeout,” slider, but Self felt his fastball did most of the work for him. Self’s fastball has a cutting action to it, which Self said helps it get under the barrel of left-handed batters. Self struck out two and allowed a hit in a scoreless top of the ninth against Texas Tech on Friday.
Self’s effort was crucial after MSU used six relief pitchers to win in extra innings earlier in the day. Western Illinois used a three-run top of the fourth and a two-run fifth to take the lead before MSU tied it in the bottom of that frame.
The sequence repeated itself in reverse fashion to force extras innings. MSU took a four-run lead into the ninth but couldn’t hold it.
“Really proud of the fact our guys continued to battle in that first game,” Cannizaro said. “It showed a lot about our young team.”
Stovall sparked MSU by driving in two runs with a single in the eighth.
Third baseman Luke Alexander led off the bottom of the 11th with a walk. The next pitch hit Gridley to set the stage for designated hitter Brent Rooker. Rooker fouled two pitches off — taking a ball in between — before launching the game-winning RBI single off the left-field wall.
MSU will play host to Morehead State (2-2) at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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