Ryan McPherson was only supposed to throw one inning Tuesday night.
But Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis and pitching coach Justin Parker were so impressed with how McPherson looked that they kept running him back out to the mound. The freshman ended up earning the win with four scoreless innings of relief as the Bulldogs rallied from a three-run deficit to earn a 5-3 win at Memphis.
“He was commanding all three pitches, which he hasn’t done the last few weeks,” Lemonis said. “We wanted to get him out here and get some confidence. We were only going to throw him an inning, and he was so good we just kept throwing him. He can get back into pitching with some composure and pitching in the strike zone, because his stuff is really good. It’s really high-end stuff.”
Two-way player Noah Sullivan drew the start for the fourth straight midweek game and kept his perfect ERA intact with two scoreless innings. But Jacob Pruitt ran into trouble in the third, allowing three two-out runs as the Tigers came up with a couple of key hits. McPherson took over in the fourth and allowed the first man he faced to reach on a bunt single, then retired 12 in a row, eight of them by strikeout.
Hunter Hines hit a solo home run in the fourth to put MSU (17-12) on the board. It was the senior first baseman’s 61st homer as a Bulldog, tying him with Will Clark for second in program history behind Rafael Palmeiro’s 67.
MSU cashed in Dylan Cupp’s leadoff double in the sixth on fly balls by Gehrig Frei and Ace Reese, and then Sullivan — still in the game as the designated hitter — tied the game with a solo shot to left-center.
In the seventh, the Bulldogs took advantage of two walks and took the lead on pinch-hitter Sawyer Reeves’ RBI single. They added an insurance run in the eighth when Frei hit a leadoff double and scored on a single from Nolan Stevens.
“All the guys were frustrated. Toward the end of (Memphis starter Caden Robinson’s) outing, we were able to get on some balls,” Lemonis said. “Gehrig Frei was really good tonight. The big double down the line, but I thought he had a homer in that big inning when we tied it up, when he hit the ball to left-center. I thought he hit it out, but the guy made a great play. I thought he had a really good night offensively.”
Stone Simmons took over for McPherson on the mound in the eighth and worked out of a jam, then retired the Tigers (11-17) in order in the ninth.
MSU returns to Dudy Noble Field for a three-game series against South Carolina starting Friday evening. Both the Bulldogs and Gamecocks are 1-8 in Southeastern Conference play.
“It’s been a long (time away) from home,” Lemonis said. “We’re ready to get back, I can tell you that.”
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