STARKVILLE — With Reed Stallman, Bryce Chance, Nolan Stevens and defensive specialist Michael O’Brien, Mississippi State has a surplus of capable outfielders, and not everyone can be in the lineup every day.

Aaron Downs’ recent performance is making it difficult for head coach Chris Lemonis to make him the odd one out.

A part-time player over his first three years with the Bulldogs, Downs entered his senior season still looking for his first collegiate home run. He now leads MSU with seven despite starting just eight of the Bulldogs’ 15 games. Downs homered twice Saturday and hit two more homers Sunday as MSU finished its last non-conference weekend with a sweep over Queens.

“I may not be in the starting lineup every day, but when that opportunity presents itself, I’m just having a positive mindset and trying to put a good swing on the ball,” Downs said. “(I’ve been) slowing down mentally and physically in the box. The first three years I’ve been here, I was real jumpy at the ball. I’ve started to slow down and I’ve found results.”

Downs also delivered an RBI double in his first at-bat Saturday, giving the Bulldogs (11-4) the lead in the second inning. He hit a two-run blast down the left-field line in the fourth, then another to nearly the same spot in the sixth, finishing the day 3-for-3 with five RBI in a 10-2 win. Chance homered as well for his first hit of the weekend.

All those runs helped junior college transfer Ben Davis earn the win in his first start with MSU. Not that Davis needed much help — he got through six innings on just 57 pitches, allowing one run on only one hit while recording 12 of his 18 outs on the ground. Lemonis said Davis dealt with a blister early on in his outing but pitched through it and remained effective, retiring the last 10 batters he faced.

Ryan McPherson and Mikhai Grant each worked a scoreless inning out of the bullpen, and freshman Duke Stone made his Bulldogs debut in the ninth, giving up one run and finishing out the victory.

“(Davis) is pretty special,” Lemonis said. “In relief, he was striking out a ton of guys, and on a day like today, he had them banging the ball on the ground, which was nice. When you get six innings in 57 pitches, that’s a pretty good day.”

In his first at-bat Sunday leading off the second, Downs hit an opposite-field home run into the teeth of a stiff wind blowing in from right field. He went deep again an inning later, this time with a laser beam into the left-field seats, as MSU defeated the Royals 9-3.

Sawyer Reeves, filling in for the injured Dylan Cupp at shortstop, reached base three times with a single, a double and a walk. Lemonis said he expects Cupp to return soon, but Reeves hit an RBI single during a four-run second, then capped his day with a leadoff double in the sixth.

“He’s good. He’s played a good shortstop too,” Lemonis said. “His swing, it looks like he’s getting comfortable. Those first couple games, he just didn’t look comfortable.”

Pushed back a day in the weekend rotation, Karson Ligon looked sharp, albeit against a weaker lineup than just about any the Bulldogs will face the rest of the year. He struck out nine batters in five scoreless innings, holding Queens (2-13) hitless until the fifth. After giving up back-to-back singles to open that fifth inning, Ligon struck out three batters in a row to escape the jam and end his day.

“This past week, I went back to what worked for me early in the fall. Doing that allowed me to get that confidence back and carry it to the mound today,” Ligon said. “My changeup started working really good, and I just rode with that.”

MSU makes its annual trip to Biloxi on Tuesday and Wednesday for games against Old Dominion and Nicholls, then returns to Dudy Noble Field for the start of Southeastern Conference play Friday against No. 12 Texas.

“When we play in Biloxi, some fans, they don’t get to see you all year long and that’s the only time they get to see you,” Lemonis said. “We spend more time signing autographs and saying hello and appreciating our fan base, because a lot of them just watch us on TV, and it gives them an opportunity to see us in person. It’s a good atmosphere for us to play in. Everywhere we go, it seems like we set the records for crowds.”