STARKVILLE — Steven Spalitta gets plenty of chances to showcase his raw power in practices and scrimmages, but with Mississippi State’s catching depth and Noah Sullivan entrenched as the Bulldogs’ designated hitter, he rarely gets the opportunity to show what he can do in a game.
But with MSU already leading Southern by seven runs in the third inning Tuesday evening, head coach Chris Lemonis sent Spalitta to the plate as a pinch-hitter for Sullivan. Spalitta got every bit of a first-pitch hanging breaking ball and kept it fair inside the right-field foul pole for a three-run home run, his first long ball as a Bulldog.
The blast put the game into run-rule territory as MSU went on to defeat the Jaguars, 16-2 in seven innings at Dudy Noble Field..
“He’s probably underplayed, per the coach, more than anybody,” Lemonis said. “He doesn’t get as many opportunities, but he’s hit like that for us a lot in our practices and everything else. I’m a little challenged defensively (with) where to play him, but he’s a good offensive player. I’m going to have to find a spot. See what we can do versatility-wise with him, because he is that good a hitter.”
The first six Bulldogs reached base in the bottom of the first inning, and all six came around to score. Gehrig Frei — starting at third base in place of Ace Reese, who was wearing a boot on his sore left foot — scored in each of the first three innings after a single, a double and a hit-by-pitch. After a passed ball brought in the first run of the game, Hunter Hines doubled down the right-field line to drive in two more, and he scored himself on Gatlin Sanders’ two-run single.
MSU (23-14) scored three more runs in the second and four in the third, three of them on Spalitta’s homer. Bryce Chance came home all the way from first base on Lukas Buckner’s pinch-hit single to extend the lead to 11.
“We’re just there to play our game (and) not to worry about the opponent,” Frei said. “It’s always good in these games to get out in front early like we did. The six-spot in the first was huge. That’s our focus in these midweeks.”
Freshman Ryan McPherson, making his first collegiate start on the mound, struck out the side in order in the first. He allowed a two-out solo homer to Michael Latulas in the second and was then relieved by another freshman, Duke Stone, who gave up a home run to the first batter he faced in the third. But Stone escaped a mini-jam after that, and Southern (15-20) never got another hit.
Jacob Pruitt, Dane Burns, Kevin Mannell and Cade O’Leary, none of whom had pitched more than 10 innings entering Tuesday, held the Jaguars hitless over the last four innings and all were efficient with their pitch counts.
“Duke and Cade, I thought they were great, and Jacob Pruitt, he’s a guy who can really help us down the stretch,” Lemonis said. “We need more left-handed relievers, so Dane Burns just being able to come out and get one or two guys at a time, we need that consistency from him.”
Hines drove in his fourth run of the game with a groundout in the fifth inning, and Dylan Cupp completed the scoring with a two-run double in the sixth. Only Hines, Michael O’Brien and Ross Highfill played the entire game as Nate Chester, Reed Stallman and Landis Davila came in as pinch-hitters or defensive replacements, along with Spalitta, Buckner and Cupp.
The Bulldogs host Florida for a three-game Southeastern Conference series starting Friday night. MSU, at 5-10 in SEC play at the halfway point, is one game ahead of the Gators in the standings.
“They’ll play hard and they’re very good and talented,” Lemonis said. “They may not have the depth because they’ve had a couple injuries, but the guys they have are really good, and a good position group. They’re like us, they’re like (Texas) A&M, a couple teams who started slow in the league, but they’re playing well now and they’re always well-coached and hard-nosed. It’ll be a big weekend here at The Dude.”
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