HOOVER, Ala. — There’s no place like the postseason to make up for lost time.
Connor Hujsak had missed Mississippi State’s last seven games with a back injury. As a freshman at Virginia Commonwealth, he played in an NCAA regional at Dudy Noble Field. Like many of the Bulldogs, he waited a long time to play in a postseason game in the maroon and white, and he was hitless in three at-bats Tuesday night when he stepped to the plate with two outs and a runner at third in the bottom of the ninth inning with MSU trailing by a run.
Ole Miss left-hander Liam Doyle served up a fastball over the heart of the plate on the first pitch, and Hujsak did not miss it. He launched a fly ball to deep left field that landed in the Rebels’ bullpen beyond the fence, and the No. 5 seed Bulldogs, on the brink of being sent home from Hoover Metropolitan Stadium without scoring a run, defeated their biggest rivals 2-1 to end Ole Miss’ season and preserve their chances to host a regional.
“Baseball is a game of ups and downs,” Hujsak said. “When you get a game-changing swing like that, it boosts everything. It boosts confidence, it boosts morale in the dugout when you can capitalize like that, get momentum like that. We’ll see what happens now.”
Not wanting to give the ball to Khal Stephen or Jurrangelo Cijntje on short rest, head coach Chris Lemonis gave the starting nod to senior Brooks Auger, one of MSU’s top relievers for most of the year who made three starts in Southeastern Conference play. Auger had set career highs in innings pitched (five) and strikeouts (six) at Vanderbilt on April 27, but on this night he blew both of those marks to smithereens.
He worked eight innings and held the No. 12 seed Rebels to three hits while striking out 13 batters without issuing a walk. Auger, who missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw 78 pitches in his stellar outing — fewer than 10 per inning — with 66 of them for strikes. In fact, Auger had more strikeouts than balls thrown.
“I really wasn’t trying to overdo it,” Auger said. “I was just trying to throw fastballs in the zone, keep my sliders down and just command my changeup for a strike. It just really worked for me.”
Auger retired the first 12 batters he faced, striking out the side in the third, but Will Furniss broke up the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout in one fell swoop with a leadoff home run to center field. Hujsak raced back to the fence and got a glove on it, but could not alter the ball’s flight enough to keep it in play.
“I thought I had it,” Hujsak said. “Those balls are like 50/50 balls, and we practice those all the time. I came up on the wrong side of it tonight, but I’m sure if I get another opportunity like that, I won’t miss it.”
Despite Auger’s dominance, he was on the hook to be the hard-luck loser when he left the game because the Bulldogs (37-19) were silenced at the plate by Ole Miss right-hander Riley Maddox.
Amani Larry gave MSU its first hit with a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth, but he and Logan Kohler were both stranded in scoring position when Maddox retired Joe Powell on a ground ball to shortstop. Kohler’s leadoff single in the eighth chased Maddox from the game, but Doyle put out the small five on a lazy fly ball from Powell and strikeouts against pinch-hitter Ethan Pulliam and Bryce Chance.
The Rebels (27-29) put two runners on base with two outs in the top of the ninth before the Bulldogs turned to their left-handed relief ace, Tyler Davis, who struck out Furniss on a full count with a well-located fastball.
“I walked right up to him and told him after the game. I said, ‘That was a huge pitch,’” Lemonis said. “Great teams, their pitchers do that. He did a great job, because Furniss has played really well against us this year.”
David Mershon drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the ninth and advanced to second on a passed ball. But Dakota Jordan struck out and Hunter Hines grounded out sharply to first, moving Mershon to third. Hujsak, who hit .387 with a .656 slugging percentage in conference play, ended things on the very next pitch.
MSU has guaranteed itself at least two more games in Hoover, starting with a matchup against No. 4 seed Texas A&M on Wednesday night. The Aggies took two of three from the Bulldogs in College Station back in late March.
“In SEC play, Connor has been our best guy by far,” Lemonis said. “He gives protection to Hunter and Dakota. His own production and his ability to play center field, he just does so much for you. He’s had a great year. People don’t talk about him as much as everybody else, but we’ve really missed him the last two weeks. Him being out has been tough for us, and having him back has been awesome.”
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