Charlottesville, VA — Mississippi State kept their hopes of reaching the super regionals alive by manhandling St. John’s 13-5 in the Sunday afternoon opener of the NCAA Baseball Charlottesville Regional. The Bulldogs’ bats came alive in the Sunday opener, recording runs in five different innings and 19 hits overall.
“We got a good start and good relief from Cam (Schuelke), and we were pretty offensive today which was nice to see,” Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis said. “We need that momentum for the rest of the weekend. Seeing some guys have some big days at the plate.”
Mississippi starting pitcher Brooks Auger forced the Red Storm to strand a pair of runners in the first inning keeping the game scoreless until the Bulldogs offensive explosion began in the third. Aaron Downs led off the third inning with a double into right field. A single by Joe Powell moved Downs into scoring position and Amani Larry plated the junior to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
David Mershon batted next and hit into a ground-ball double play but Powell scored and the Bulldogs extended their lead. Dakota Jordan followed by reaching base on an infield single and Hunter Hines drew a walk before Connor Hujsak and Bryce Chance hit back-to-back RBI singles to give Mississippi State a 4-0 advantage.
Dakota Jones and Hunter Hines each knocked in RBIs in the fourth inning on back-to-back singles to give Mississippi State a six-run lead. The Bulldogs recorded nine hits and six runs spanning the two innings.
With their backs against the wall in the elimination contest, the Red Storm rallied to trim the Bulldogs lead to two runs with a pair of scores in each of the fourth and the fifth innings. Despite St. John’s’ best efforts, the defense and pitching of Mississippi State was able to keep their opponents from getting back into the game.
“As a pitcher, you miss spots every once in a while and just to know that if they put it in play, there’s a really good chance that your guys are going to make a play, and they’ve made some outstanding plays out there behind us, just knowing that they can do that behind you just gives you a lot of confidence to be comfortable with a mispitch if it happens,” junior pitcher Brooks Auger said.
The Mississippi State offense wasted little time in retaliation, however, when Mershon recorded what would be the game-winning runs with a blast over the left field fence in the top of the sixth inning that scored two runs.
“We had lost momentum for a small amount and that’s been the word of the day,” said Lemonis. “Just to capture the momentum and try to ride it out through the day. There’s not a lot of advantage to being in the losers’ bracket except the fact that you just won and you feel good and you played well and you can take that into the next game.”
Insurance runs were added by Mershon and Jordan in the eighth inning with each crossing home plate. In the ninth, Jordan completed a 5-for-5 outing at the plate with a three-run blast to set the final margin. The sophomore finished the game with four runs batted in and three runs scored in the contest.
Larry and Mershon each finished 3-for-5, with Mershon scoring four times and Larry three.
“We got a couple of big swings with runners in scoring position and I think it lets you loosen up a little bit,” Lemonis said in reaction to his teams’ offensive outburst. “I think you just saw guys get better swings and better swings. It builds confidence in the offense and we saw it all day.”
The victory sets up a rematch between top-seeded host Virginia and Mississippi State this evening at 5 p.m. A loss will put an end to the Bulldogs’ season while a victory tonight will force a winner-takes-all contest and the third head-to-head matchup between the two opponents in the regionals on Monday.
“All hands are on deck, we’re going to use everybody tonight and figure out tomorrow,” Lemonis said about his approach to Sunday night’s game. “You got to do what’s smart too. We got to take care of our guys but we have some guys. It’s a very good offense, we know that, Virginia can hit as good as anybody but we have some guys still available that we can use.”
Unable to take the mound the rest of the series, Auger said he still has an important role on the team beginning in the nightcap.
“I plan to not have a voice when we walk out of this stadium today,” Auger said, smiling. “Be there to pick up my guys, hits, no hits, batting, whatever it might be. Just be a confidence booster for them that even if it doesn’t go their way in that exact moment there’s always the next pitch, the next at-bat. Just be there to try to uplift them throughout the rest of the game.”
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