STARKVILLE — Two separate cheers erupted at Dudy Noble Field Saturday night.
The first started in the outfield and carried into the grandstands in the sixth inning. Mississippi State baseball fans were reacting to Ole Miss beating Texas A&M. That win gave MSU hopes of winning a Southeastern Conference championship outright.
The second came as MSU finished off Arkansas. The No. 3 Bulldogs beat the Razorbacks 9-4 in front of 8,421 fans to sweep the series and win their first SEC championship since 1989 and 11th overall.
“It just goes without saying, I’m really proud of our kids,” MSU coach John Cohen said, who was a junior on the 1989 team. “I think this is a result of a ton of work by a group of kids who really put a chip on their shoulder this year and just competed in everything they did. They competed in the weight room, they competed in practice and they competed in a really tough SEC.”
MSU becomes the first team to finish last in the SEC and win the league outright the next season. The Bulldogs went 8-22 in the league and 24-30 overall and missed the postseason last season. Cohen led Kentucky to a co-championship in 2006 with Alabama after finishing last in 2005.
MSU will face either Kentucky or Alabama at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to begin SEC tournament play in Hoover, Ala.
The Bulldogs (40-14-1, 21-9 SEC) beat the Razorbacks (26-29, 7-23) 5-1 Friday night behind seven solid innings from Austin Sexton (7-2). Reid Humphryes picked up his seventh save as he tossed two scoreless innings.
The 21 SEC wins and nine SEC series victories are the most in school history.
“I feel like I knew it was going to happen,” sophomore shortstop Ryan Gridley said. “The way our team is, we had so many good guys last year. If you look at last year, I feel like every game we lost we were there at the very end and then something would happen.”
Entering the final weekend, MSU needed a sweep and a Florida loss to LSU and a Texas A&M loss to Ole Miss. The Tigers beat the Gators 5-4 Thursday and the Rebels hung on for a 3-2 victory Saturday.
Cohen said he didn’t allow cell phones in the dugout, but knew what had happened when the fans starting cheering in the sixth. Sophomore Ryan Rigby was on the mound when the Rebels won.
“It was crazy,” Rigby said. “Everybody knew what was happening, but everybody knew we had to finish the game and get our win.”
Rigby (5-1) threw 4 2/3 innings in relief. He entered with two runners on and one out in the third. He got a ground ball out and a strikeout to get out of trouble. He allowed two hits and no walks and struck out six.
The Razorbacks took a 2-0 lead on a Clint Eagan two-run home run to right field in the first. The Bulldogs scored a run in the second when Jacob Robson scored on a Gridley ground out and a run in the third when Jake Mangum scored on a sacrifice fly out by Robson.
MSU scored four runs in the fifth to take the lead for good. Gavin Collins doubled home Jack Kruger and three scored when centerfielder Carson Shaddy dropped a Reid Humphreys fly ball. The Bulldogs added three runs in the seventh and the Razorbacks scored two in the eighth.
Freshman outfielder Mangum finishes the regular season leading the SEC in batting average (.427). But he was speechless as he talked to reporters after a march around the filed to greet fans and celebrate the championship.
“You can’t describe it. That was unreal. We all worked hard,” Mangum said.
The Razorbacks committed 10 errors and allowed 12 unearned runs over the weekend to finish last in the league.
Blake Smith struck out Rick Nomura to record the final out and he was rushed by his teammates and the celebration began.
For veterans like Gavin Collins and Jacob Robson, this is a long time coming.
“The amount of work, the amount of time, effort, sweat and tears in the fall and the early spring, it’s all worth it,” Collins said. “We grinded for so long and it started to show up.”
Cohen and the 1989 didn’t make it to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, so he knows there is still a lot of work to do. But for now, Cohen is taking in the moment.
“As a coach you realize this is a really competitive situation and these moments don’t come along every single day,” Cohen said. “I’m just really proud to be a Mississippi State graduate, be in this environment and to be able to share this with the Mississippi State family.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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