STARKVILLE — Heading into the fifth inning of Sunday afternoon’s series finale against Georgia Southern at The Dude, things were once again looking grim for Mississippi State baseball.
The Bulldogs trailed, 1-0, and were facing the prospect of dropping an early season series at home. Sophomore Bryce Chance wasn’t about to let that happen.
A trio of singles loaded the bases with one out, leaving Chance the opportunity to be the hero, and a hero he was, roping a bases-clearing double to give MSU a 3-1 lead.
The Eagles would add another run, but a five-run seventh inning shut the door as Mississippi State cruised to a 10-2 Sunday matinee win, taking the weekend series.
“I feel like we got air back in the building,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “We were standing up there, hoping for a hit, instead of making it happen. [Chance’s] swing just let everybody relax and then, next thing you know, everybody’s hitting.”
It was Chance’s lone hit on Sunday, but it ended up being the biggest hit of the afternoon for the Bulldogs (4-4), who finished with a season-high 15 hits in the win.
Four finished with multi-hit games, including Connor Hujsak, who came in to play in center in the sixth inning and finished 2-for-2 with three RBIs.
Leading the way were Hunter Hines, who finished his weekend going 3-for-5, and David Mershon, who recorded a four-hit, multi-RBI afternoon to finish out his first weekend of the spring.
“It feels good to be back out,” Merson said. “I’ve worked really hard for it all year. You can’t really do anything when the little bumps come along the way, so just getting through it, getting back out there and helping guys win games.”
On the mound, Jurrangelo Cijntje had another solid start in his second appearance this season.
He worked through five innings, striking out six, and didn’t allow a hitt after the first inning.
Cijntje had a scare to lead off the fourth inning when he tried to barehand a hard-hit comebacker, but he battled back, tossing another two scoreless innings to cap off his best start of the season so far.
“I just want to win ballgames,” Cijntje said. “I try to do everything I can just to get an out. Just trying to get every out.”
He set the tone at the start and the offense picked up right where he left off at the end of his outing, scoring nine of Sunday’s 10 runs between the fifth and seventh innings.
The floodgates opened in the seventh, a five-run outburst that turned what was a 4-1 game into a blowout, a much needed bounce-back to get back to .500 and finish a second-straight weekend with a series win.
“They beat us yesterday,” Lemonis said. “They came out and beat us from the first pitch and I thought they responded today, played a really good game. … Probably our two best games of the year for us have been Friday and Sunday. We’re getting better. We have to.”
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