Mississippi State entered the ninth inning Sunday with some history on the line, but before long, the No. 18 Bulldogs found themselves barely hanging on as they tried to complete a three-game sweep of Missouri State.
Bulldog pitchers had held the Bears hitless through eight despite a good amount of traffic on the basepaths. But Robert Fortenberry issued a walk and then hit a batter to start the ninth, so the Bulldogs turned to left-hander Luke Dotson. After a fly ball for the first out, William Zareh turned on the first pitch from Dotson and broke up the no-hit bid with a three-run home run, trimming the hosts’ lead to just two runs.
The next two batters also reached base on a single and a walk, respectively, which prompted another pitching change. With the go-ahead run at the plate, Virginia transfer Chase Hungate induced a flyout and a groundout to finish off a 6-4 victory that was a good deal more stressful for the Bulldogs than it needed to be.
“I know we had a no-hitter going into the ninth, but that’s a really good offensive lineup,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “You look up at the end of the year, you’ll probably see Missouri State in a regional. That’s a good ball club with good hitters. You let their guys get a little hot and a little excited, and it’s hard to stop. Chase Hungate was really, really good.”
Starting pitcher Stone Simmons experienced a spate of wildness in the second inning, walking three batters and plunking another as Missouri State pushed across a run. But he settled down and retired all six batters he faced in the third and fourth on three strikeouts and three ground balls before giving way to the bullpen. Freshman left-hander Charlie Foster worked 2 ⅔ scoreless innings, walking two and striking out two, then handed the ball to Fortenberry.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs (6-1) hit four home runs to open up what appeared to be a comfortable lead. Gehrig Frei, a transfer from North Alabama making his first start as a Bulldog, led off the bottom of the first and launched the first pitch over the wall in left.
“My mindset was just to be aggressive on my pitch, and luckily I got it,” Frei said. “I just wanted to do damage with it.”
Aaron Downs put the home team back in front with a solo shot in the fourth, which was followed by an Ethan Pulliam triple and a Dylan Cupp RBI single to chase Bears starter Tyler Charlton from the game. Hunter Hines added on with a solo blast in the fifth and Ace Reese delivered a two-run homer in the sixth. Downs, Hines and Reese all have two home runs now through seven games.
All nine Bulldog starters had at least one hit, with Frei and Cupp each hitting safely twice.
The Bulldogs face their first ranked opponent of the season Tuesday when No. 21 Troy visits Dudy Noble Field.
“I feel good. Winning three at home against a quality opponent is big,” Lemonis said. “We still have a lot of work to do. The last two days, (we didn’t) throw enough strikes. And then just being productive offensively. We have a really good opponent coming in Tuesday night.”
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