HOOVER, Ala. — If the Southeastern Conference is looking to rename its baseball tournament, Chris Lemonis has a suggestion.
“It’s like the Connor Hujsak Invitational, hosted by the SEC,” Mississippi State’s head coach said. “Two really good nights, and it couldn’t happen to a better guy.”
A night after Hujsak rescued the Bulldogs with a two-out, walk-off two-run home run in the ninth inning to beat Ole Miss, the senior again found himself at the plate with two outs in the ninth. Although the game was tied and the bases were loaded this time, Texas A&M’s Evan Aschenbeck, perhaps the SEC’s best relief pitcher, was on the mound.
Aschenbeck quickly got ahead in the count 0-2, but Hujsak stayed back on a changeup and hit it right back where it came from, up the middle and into center field for a two-run single. It was the decisive blow in No. 5 seed MSU’s 5-3 victory over the No. 4 seed Aggies, who entered the day with the best RPI in the country.
“They talked about staying in your legs on that changeup all day long,” Lemonis said. “He did a great job of staying on that ball, putting it in play and making somebody make a play.”
Left-hander Tyler Davis, who transferred from Virginia Commonwealth to MSU along with Hujsak following the 2022 season, retired Texas A&M in order on just nine pitches in the bottom of the inning to earn his fifth save.
“It’s awesome. We’ve been playing together for four years,” Davis said. “He’s pretty much like a brother now. We live together and we do a lot of things together.”
The Bulldogs (38-19) opened the scoring with a one-out rally in the second, taking the early lead on an Amani Larry single, a Logan Kohler double and a wild pitch to score Larry with the game’s first run. They extended that lead an inning later on a two-run homer by David Mershon, a laser beam over the left-field wall that exited Mershon’s bat at 104 miles per hour.
On many nights, three runs would have been enough for MSU ace Khal Stephen, who had held the Aggies (44-12) to one run over 6 2/3 innings in a Bulldog win on Mar. 22. Stephen carried a 3-1 lead into the sixth but exited the game after giving up a walk and a single to start the frame against Texas A&M’s two best hitters, Jace LaViolette and Braden Montgomery. Both would eventually score as the Aggies tied things up against Tyson Hardin.
“These games are so tough,” Lemonis said. “They’re emotionally draining because you’re in it, you feel like you should be running away with it, and the next thing you know, they get the momentum. We fortunately were able to get it there at the end of the game, and so I give our guys a lot of credit for just staying in the fight and fighting through that. I thought Khal gave us a gritty start.”
Nate Dohm took over on the mound in the seventh and remained unscored upon since his return last week from an arm injury, allowing just one hit over two innings. Dohm opened the season as MSU’s Friday night starter, but has thrived in relief since coming back and was rewarded with the win when the Bulldogs rallied in the ninth.
Bryce Chance and Mershon were each hit by a pitch with one out in that fateful inning against Chris Cortez, at which point Texas A&M turned to Aschenbeck. But Aschenbeck threw wide to first base after fielding Hunter Hines’ dribbler, loading the bases. Dakota Jordan, now hitless in his last 14 at-bats, hit a harmless fly ball to shallow right for the second out before Hujsak again came through with the game-winning hit.
MSU came into Hoover feeling like it left some food on the table after failing to complete a sweep against Missouri, putting a dent in its chances to host an NCAA regional, but the Bulldogs have put themselves back in good shape to earn a top-16 seed. They will battle No. 8 seed Vanderbilt in a winners’ bracket game Thursday night, less than a month after winning two out of three on the road against the Commodores.
“I showed up to this place, I probably hadn’t smiled as much as I had since we showed up for practice the other day,” Larry said. “We’re driving by, I’m like, ‘Man, this place is sick.’ So we’re just enjoying the moment more than anything.”
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