STARKVILLE — It was the perfect time for the first time.
Coming up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s district opener against Tupelo, Starkville senior Ethan Pulliam had yet to record a walk-off in his career.
The accomplished two-way player and Mississippi State signee checked that off his list emphatically with one swing against Golden Wave pitcher Lake Reed.
“[Reed] threw the first get-me-over slider and I saw his eyes get big after it went over for a strike,” Starkville head coach Luke Adkins said. “They went back to it again and he was on time for it.”
Pulliam, having led off the game for Starkville (9-2, 1-0 in district) with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, finished things off with a monster two-run walk-off homer for the Yellow Jackets.
It began district play with a bang and sent the fans and his teammates into a frenzy, eventually running out to the outfield boardwalk area postgame to celebrate with fellow students.
“I had a feeling that it would come down to me in the last inning,” Pulliam said. “..It feels good. I kind of blacked out as soon as I hit it and I didn’t hear anything around me.”
Pulliam has shown off his power plenty this season, but Tuesday was his time in the spotlight.
His father, Chris, was scoring the game in the press box and said during the seventh inning that he smelled a walk-off, and a walk-off it was.
Starkville has been on a roll recently, coming off the backs of a successful Spring Break trip to Biloxi for the Battle at the Beach, and now, with a hot start to district play, the Jackets are in control.
“It was really big for us,” Pulliam said. “Now it gives us confidence…I had a feeling that it would come down to me in the last inning. I kind of reflected back to last season when we played Madison Central here. I hit a bomb later in the game and in my next at-bat, I hit another one, but tonight, I just knew I had to keep my head on no matter how we were playing.”
After seeing a fastball down the heart of the plate in the first inning that he launched over the “Starkville Monster” in left field, he sat back on a breaking pitch in the seventh, hitting one just to the right of the tall left field wall.
His approach at the plate was the same both times: Find a pitch to drive and put together a productive at-bat.
Pulliam picked his spot out at the plate and didn’t miss either time.
“I figured they’d start me out with a breaking ball, but I hadn’t seen that guy ever in my life,” Pulliam said. “I just tried to take the first pitch and he came back with it again. I saw it out of his hand both times he threw it. I just kept my bat through the zone, stayed on the ball and hit it out of the park.”
It was a tough decision for Tupelo (5-8, 0-1 in district) to pitch to Pulliam, knowing batters like Brennon Wright were coming up right behind him.
However, they took the risk and Pulliam made them pay for it, a storyline to follow once these two teams face off again in Tupelo at 7 p.m. Thursday.
“It’s hard to win any game on the road, so we knew we had to win at our place to get the easy one out of the way before we go up to Tupelo on Thursday,” Pulliam said.
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