STARKVILLE — Logan Tanner glared down the third base line with deep intent in his eyes.
Tanner knew what he’d done. The cracking of metal against leather offered enough evidence of such. So too did the chorus of cheers from the Dudy Noble Field faithful. But an artist ought to enjoy his work, right?
For the second time in three at bats, Tanner looked on as he crushed a hanging breaking-ball off the second-story rigs in left field, pacing No. 3 Mississippi State (13-3) to a drama-free 4-1 win and series sweep of Eastern Michigan (4-5) Sunday.
Less than 24 hours after Tanner’s first long ball of the year gifted MSU its third walk-off win of the young season, his second homer in as many days put the finishing touches on another dynamic early inning offensive display that the Bulldogs lacked through its first three weeks of the 2021 campaign.
“We’re always trying to get it done early, we just haven’t had success doing it,” head coach Chris Lemonis said through a laugh. “I don’t think there’s a lack of intent, it’s just kind of the way the game’s played us.”
Prior to Tanner’s mammoth shot into the Left Field Lounge, Jacksonville transfer Scotty Dubrule opened the scoring with a roped three-run double. A pair of singles from Tanner and Josh Hatcher started the run. A misplay by Eastern Michigan Daniel Warkentin in which he failed to tap the bag on an attempted double plate turn loaded the bases. Dubrule then promptly smashed the fourth pitch he saw from Eagles starter Luke McGuire into the left-center field gap to plate three.
“We haven’t been getting leads right off the bat and that’s kind of my role as a leadoff hitter,” Dubrule explained. “So it was kind of nice to get on the board early today to take some stress off the rest of the team and (it) helps us play loose.”
Through 16 games this season, MSU has made a living out of late-game heroics. Luke Hancock’s walk-off grand slam and a ninth-inning single from Taner Allen sank a feisty Tulane squad that came a handful of pitches from stealing that series. Saturday, it was Tanner who turned on the first pitch he saw from Eastern Michigan reliever Cameron Wagoner and sent it into the bleachers for a 4-1 come-from-behind win.
But for as often as MSU has managed late-game, high-pressure situations, it’s slogged through the earliest portions of games. Following a loss to Kent State last week in which the Bulldogs looked listless, Lemonis maligned his team’s inability to get going until it’s back was against the wall. Eight days since his spiel, Lemonis’ bunch have found a groove.
Entering the week, the Bulldogs had notched 16 runs in the first three innings of their previous 11 games. In five games over the past six days, MSU turned in 11 runs over the first three frames, including four Sunday.
A weekend’s worth of strong starts, including a pair of revenge outings from ace Christian MacLeod and Saturday starter Eric Cerantola, have also given the Bulldogs an heir of breathing room.
Blessed with a bullpen with more capable arms than the staff knows what to do with, second-year freshman Will Bednar thrust his name back into the weekend rotation conversation after injuries slowed his start to the spring. Striking out seven of the 13 batters he faced in four innings of relief, he fooled the Eagles with a dazzling mix of a mid-90s fastball and a dastardly slider that whipped around the zone.
“I felt good today,” Bednar said postgame. “Happy to kind of keep building up and building up pitch count. I’m excited for next week.”
Now just a Tuesday contest against Samford away from opening Southeastern Conference play in Baton Rouge against No. 21 LSU, MSU has strung together a slew of early-inning offensive outputs that have afforded some comfort over its six-game winning streak. Whether that persists against a schedule that boasts five teams ranked in D1 Baseball’s latest Top 25 rankings, though, remains to be seen.
“We weren’t great today offensively, but I thought we did enough,” Lemonis said. “If you can show up and play defense every day and pitch you’ve got a chance to win and that’s kind of what happened.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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