STARKVILLE — Even after managing just one hit through eight innings of Tuesday’s midweek game against Central Arkansas, Mississippi State was right where it wanted to be in the ninth.
The No. 23 Bulldogs had rallied for four runs in the final frame to trim what was once a six-run deficit to a single tally. After the Bears chose to intentionally walk David Mershon to set up a force at every base, MSU had its two best hitters, Dakota Jordan and Hunter Hines, due up with one out and the tying and winning runs both in scoring position.
But neither slugger could put the ball in play. Charlie Christensen got Jordan to chase a pitch outside the strike zone for the second out, then blew a fastball past Hines to end the game and hand the Bulldogs a 7-6 defeat.
“We were big all day long. Not just those two, everybody. And we just stayed big,” MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. “Those are two of the best players in the country. You want them at the plate right there, and unfortunately we don’t get contact.”
Freshman left-hander Nolan Stevens started for the Bulldogs (19-11) and worked two scoreless innings before giving way to Logan Forsythe, who was making his first appearance since Mar. 19. Forsythe had not allowed a hit over his first three outings of the year and had struck out seven in just 3 ⅔ innings, but he ran into trouble in the third against Central Arkansas (13-15).
He retired the top two hitters in the Bears’ lineup after issuing a leadoff walk, but then plunked Bryce Cermenelli and walked Drew Sturgeon to load the bases. Jagger Schattle roped a line drive off the high wall down the right-field line for a two-run single to put the visitors in front, and then catcher Casey Shipley hit a towering fly ball that just cleared the fence in center for a three-run home run, and all of a sudden MSU trailed 5-1.
“Just not competing in the strike zone,” Lemonis said. “That’s the frustrating thing. We’re leading the game and we bring him in to face the right part of the lineup that matches up to him. We walk a guy, hit a guy, walk a guy, and then we’re behind and we have to throw balls (over the plate) and they hit a couple balls. We create their momentum.”
The Bulldogs had scored in the first when Amani Larry walked, moved up on two wild pitches and scored on Jordan’s sacrifice fly, but they did not come up with their first hit until Mershon’s infield single in the sixth. By then, MSU trailed 7-1 after Colby Holcombe allowed single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. In both the sixth and seventh, the Bulldogs had runners at first and third with one out before bouncing into an inning-ending double play.
Back-to-back walks to start the eighth gave MSU a chance at a big inning, but the hosts could only push one across on an infield grounder by Mershon.
Midweek games have been a challenge all season for the Bulldogs, who lost twice to Austin Peay and blew a late lead against South Alabama. MSU also needed to come from behind to beat Jackson State, Memphis and Samford.
“Midweeks, when you’re a Power Five school, are games where you cannot mentally check out,” said catcher Johnny Long, who previously played at both Florida Gulf Coast and Pittsburgh. “We weren’t treating it as if it was a Friday night SEC game, and that’s why we end up being in these situations in the ninth inning where we’re having to compete and fight back. Today, things weren’t able to go the way we would like them to.”
Hines opened the Bulldogs’ ninth with a long home run to right field, and Connor Hujsak kept the rally going with an infield single and Bryce Chance drew a four-pitch walk. That prompted Central Arkansas to make a pitching change, but pinch-hitter Jackson McKenzie hit an opposite-field single to score a run, and following a walk to Logan Kohler, Long singled through the right side to drive in two more runs and cut the Bears’ lead to 7-6.
Larry bunted the runners to second and third while sacrificing himself for the first out, and Central Arkansas then walked Mershon before Jordan and Hines went down swinging.
MSU hosts Georgia for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday night.
“(Today) shouldn’t be a pressure game where we have to bring in our good arms that are going to be used on the weekend because we’re not doing well,” Long said. “For the mid-major team, you have nothing to lose. That’s the aspect that we weren’t able to compete against because we kind of just have expectations for these games, that we’re going to win because we’re the better team.”
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