PEARL — The Ole Miss and Mississippi State baseball teams needed a win Tuesday night in the annual Governor’s Cup showdown.
Ole Miss, a game over .500 entering the game at Trustmark Park, pounced for seven runs in the first three innings en route to an 11-1 non-conference win.
“We just didn’t compete,” MSU coach John Cohen said. “They’ve got a guy throwing 85 to 87 mph, and we can’t get our barrel to the ball. We’re not competing in the batter’s box, on the pitcher’s mound. We are not earning the breaks this game can give you. We are not earning anything.”
After starting the season 13-0 and climbing to as high as No. 6 in the country, MSU (23-22, 7-14 Southeastern Conference) is in a 10-22 skid that has it last in the SEC Western Division and No. 100 in the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) entering play. The loss snapped MSU’s two-game winning streak in the Governor’s Cup Series.
MSU senior starting pitcher Ross Mitchell surrendered two runs in the first inning before being pulled in a five-run top of the third.
Mitchell, who lost five games in his first three years in Starkville, fell to 3-3 in his final season.
“I thought they really didn’t hit the ball hard against him early,” Cohen said. “But once a few fell that maybe shouldn’t have, they started hitting balls harder.”
Ole Miss starter Scott Weathersby, also a senior, pitched seven scoreless innings to earn the win.
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the third, MSU loaded the bases thanks to hits by shortstop Seth Heck and right fielder Jake Vickerson and a walk to catcher Gavin Collins. First baseman Wes Rea, the team’s leader in RBIs, was called out on strikes in an eight-pitch at-bat. One batter later, second baseman John Holland grounded out to second base.
Ole Miss then sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom half of the inning, including a stretch that featured six consecutive hits. After RBI singles by catcher Austin Knight and leadoff hitter Connor Cloyd, freshman Will Golsan, a former standout at New Hope High School, delivered a two-run single to left field against reliever Levi Mintz.
Four of the six pitchers MSU used allowed runs. Mitchell was touched for four earned runs in 2 1/3 innings, while Mintz gave up three runs and didn’t record an out in the third.
MSU must win eight of its last nine conference game to break even in SEC play. It will conclude conference play with a three-game set this weekend against No. 1 LSU and series at Ole Miss and at Tennessee.
“We will get ready for it the same way we get ready for every opponent, by watching film and working hard,” Cohen said. “We have to take a long, hard look at the way things are happening, and we have to find out who on this team deserves to wear that jersey.”
Ole Miss added four runs in the sixth. Cloyd’s two-run single helped him finish with three hits and four RBIs.
Eight of the Rebels’ nine starters had hits in a 15-hit attack. The Rebels also capitalized on five walks and two hit batters.
MSU designated hitter Luke Reynolds went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a single in the top of the eighth.
“(Weathersby) was pounding the zone, so I went up there knowing I’d get a pitch to hit,” Reynolds said. “It was about being aggressive and getting the bat in the strike zone.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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