STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball coach Chris Lemonis wasn’t taking any chances.
With runners at first and third and no outs in the sixth inning, Lemonis turned to redshirt junior Trysten Barlow instead of sticking with senior Peyton Plumlee’s start.
Barlow, a left-hander, opened his evening by walking Anthony Vilar, a left-handed hitter and the No. 2 hitter in Miami’s lineup, on five pitches.
With the bases loaded and right-handed hitting shortstop Freddy Zamora stepping to the dish, Barlow re-set. He then delivered a 1-2 pitch Zamora grounded toward shortstop Jordan Westburg.
With a flick of the wrist and a quick exchange, Westburg and sophomores Justin Foscue and Tanner Allen sealed a 6-4-3 double play.
Although Miami plated a run on the play, Barlow then retired Adrian Del Castillo — who finished the regional with three home runs — on a first-pitch fly out to left field to end the threat and help MSU preserve a 3-2 lead.
“It was hard to take Peyton Plumlee out because he had been so good,” Lemonis said. “But we knew the matchup was there. It worked for us.”
The efforts of Barlow and hard-throwing junior Colby White proved to be critical parts of top-seeded and No. 6 national seed MSU’s 5-2 victory against second-seeded Miami in the NCAA tournament’s Starkville Regional.
Barlow didn’t allow a hit in his inning, while White struck out two of the four batters he faced.
After the game, Lemonis addressed the contributions of Barlow and White in the regional championship victory.
“They have been big for us all year with the element that we can match up in our bullpen,” he said.
he awards keep on coming
MSU placed six players on the Starkville All-Regional team.
Redshirt junior Ethan Small, junior Dustin Skelton, and sophomores Justin Foscue, Tanner Allen, Rowdey Jordan, and Josh Hatcher were honored.
Jordan also was named the regional’s Most Valuable Player after going 7-for-13 with five RBIs and three runs scored in three games.
“It was a big weekend,” he said. “I battled through some adversity at the beginning of the year. Being MVP this weekend means a lot.”
Mac is back — kind of
Two days after getting his first start since aggravating a foot injury against No. 14 Ole Miss on May 12, senior Elijah MacNamee returned to the defensive lineup.
MacNamee started in his usual right field spot Sunday against Miami for the first time since he was sidelined.
MacNamee went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
With four days between the victory and MSU’s next game against Stanford or Fresno State, MacNamee is expected to be the Bulldogs’ right fielder in the Super Regionals.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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