STARKVILLE — Logan Tanner raced around third and headed for the plate.
The Mississippi State catcher did his best to bring home a second run on Hunter Hines’ seventh-inning single, but Tanner couldn’t make it. He was tagged hard in front of the dish as cheers at Dudy Noble Field turned quickly into boos directed at the umpiring crew.
Tanner was out, but MSU had finally cut into top-ranked Tennessee’s lead.
Not by much, though.
Luke Hancock’s run on the play was the Bulldogs’ first tally all night, whittling the Volunteers’ advantage back to a mere 20 runs.
Tennessee promptly responded in the top of the eighth with a two-run homer.
So it went Friday as the Vols (47-7, 24-5 SEC) continued to rack up the runs in a 27-2 shellacking of Mississippi State (26-28, 9-18 Southeastern Conference) in Starkville.
“You’ve just got to forget that ever happened and think about it as a dream — a bad dream, obviously,” Tanner said.
By virtue of the loss and Missouri’s 11-3 win at Georgia, MSU fell into last place in the SEC with two games remaining. The Bulldogs will need to win both — and receive help from either Arkansas or Auburn — to even make next week’s conference tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
And based on the way Thursday’s game unfolded, that outcome seems highly unlikely.
Maybe it was the back-to-back-to-back solo homers in the first inning. Maybe it was the five-run third or the seven-run seventh. Maybe it was Mississippi State’s inability to record a hit through more than six innings.
There were signs — and plenty of them — that MSU was no match for Tennessee.
The Volunteers outclassed the Bulldogs all evening, pushing their lead as big as 21 runs before Hines’ single plated Mississippi State’s first run. Tanner Leggett’s eighth-inning solo shot accounted for MSU’s other score.
Other than that, it was all Tennessee.
The nation’s top-ranked team smacked 25 hits, including five doubles and seven home runs, against six different Mississippi State pitchers. Every Bulldogs hurler all allowed three or more runs, and Tennessee scored in seven different frames.
MSU starter Brandon Smith lasted just three innings, giving up 11 hits and eight runs along the way. Smith allowed three consecutive one-out solo homers in the first inning and allowed a sac fly and double in the third before Blake Burke sent a hanging curveball into the second level of the lounge in right center field for a three-run bomb.
“The ball was up,” coach Chris Lemonis said. “It’s the leading home run team in the country, and the wind’s blowing out of the stadium, and we’re pitching up in the middle of the zone. They’re going to hit some balls, and they got a hold of some balls.”
Second baseman Jorel Ortega carried much of the load for the Vols from there, finishing 5 for 7 on the night with a whopping eight RBIs. Ortega — who had the third-inning RBI double — also crushed a three-run homer in the sixth, hit an RBI single in the seventh, hit a two-run shot in the eighth and doubled off the wall in the ninth.
Catcher Evan Russell was 4 for 5 and drove in three runs for Tennessee. First baseman Luc Lipcius went 3 for 5 with three RBIs.
Meanwhile, Vols starter Chase Dollander was lights out through six innings. Dollander threw just 67 pitches and kept Mississippi State hitless throughout, giving up only a third-inning walk to shortstop Lane Forsythe.
“He threw 97 wherever he wanted it, and he threw a pretty good slider and mixed his pitches well and kept us off balance,” Tanner said. “He was really good tonight. He had all his stuff working.”
Dollander threw his final pitch with his team leading 14-0, but Tennessee was far from done. The Vols added seven runs in the seventh against freshman pitchers Jack Walker and Cole Cheatham, scored two in the eighth on Ortega’s second homer and added four in the ninth thanks to a bases-clearing double against little-used left-hander Andrew Walling.
Mississippi State will hope for a better performance at 6 p.m. Friday in the second game of the series.
Then again, compared with Thursday’s ugly loss, anything will seem better.
“You want to have some positive vibes going out of the year, especially at home,” Tanner said. “You want to end on a good note here and play well in front of the fans.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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