STARKVILLE — Ryan McPherson’s first appearance against Ole Miss was going very well until it suddenly wasn’t.
After 3 ⅓ scoreless innings in the Governor’s Cup on Apr. 22 in Pearl, the Mississippi State freshman allowed a game-tying two-run home run in the ninth to Austin Fawley in a game the Bulldogs would lose in extras. But interim head coach Justin Parker showed faith in McPherson by turning to him Saturday night with the tying and go-ahead runs on base and nobody out as MSU was clinging to a one-run, ninth-inning lead.
McPherson rose to the occasion this time, inducing a double-play ball against the first batter he faced to get most of the way out of the jam. Following a walk, another routine grounder ended the game, giving the Bulldogs a 6-5 victory over the No. 24 Rebels and the series along with it.
“Coach Parker, he’s really changed me to the person I am now,” McPherson said. “It’s all according to Coach Parker’s scouting report. What really got them is the up and elevated inside fastball, sometimes away, depending on their swing path. And then the changeup or curveball low, they’ve had a hard time recognizing spin to get it.”
MSU (31-20, 12-15 Southeastern Conference) appeared to be rolling along in the middle innings, leading by five heading into the seventh. Starter Karson Ligon frequently flirted with trouble, issuing six walks in five-plus innings of work, but he struck out seven and allowed just three hits and one run.
Nate Williams worked out of the sixth thanks to a double play, but after drilling Luke Cheng with a pitch to lead off the seventh, he allowed a single and a walk with one out and was replaced by Luke Dotson. Dotson issued a bases-loaded walk to Will Furniss, who walked in all five of his plate appearances, and another run scored on a groundout before Dotson struck out Isaac Humphrey to limit the damage for Ole Miss (34-17, 14-13).
He came back out for the eighth, but pinch-hitter Collin Reuter hit a laser beam over the left-field wall for a two-run homer that suddenly trimmed the Bulldogs’ lead to one. Ben Davis finished off the eighth but walked the first two men he faced in the ninth, giving way to McPherson.
“A lot of it was self-induced, (with) the walks,” Parker said. “That’s what’s plagued us lately. When the bullpen has scuffled, it’s been just gifts. For them to score five runs on only six hits is disappointing for me. That’s something we pride ourselves on, just making them earn it. I felt like we allowed them to get back in the game because of that.”
MSU certainly did earn it at the plate, pounding out 13 hits, although just three went for extra bases. Ace Reese brought in the game’s first run with an RBI single in the third, and the Bulldogs’ rallies in the fourth and fifth were both sparked by the bottom of the order.
Second baseman Gatlin Sanders had a pair of run-scoring hits, with the first one helping turn the lineup over for Sawyer Reeves and Reese to each drive in a run. Catcher Joe Powell, batting in front of Sanders in the eighth spot, hit an RBI double in the fifth and has now driven in 16 runs in his last 11 games.
“We were just trying to get the job done any time we can,” Sanders said. “Runners in scoring position, we just want to get the hit, not get the home run. Just focusing on that and staying in the fight was big tonight.”
Although MSU made two errors — one on a mishandled grounder by Reese at third and one on a dropped fly ball by Ross Highfill in right field — the Bulldogs were mostly sharp defensively, with the infield turning three double plays. Sanders started two of them, including the critical one in the ninth. In the third, he dove to his backhand side to stop a hard grounder up the middle, then flipped the ball to Reeves covering second, and Reeves still had time to fire to first.
Parker is now 6-1 as interim head coach since MSU fired Chris Lemonis, and with one week left in the regular season, the Bulldogs are in much better shape to make the NCAA Tournament. MSU hosts North Alabama on Tuesday evening, then hits the road for a series with last-place Missouri — albeit a Missouri team that won its first conference games of the year over the weekend at Texas A&M.
“We’ve been playing better complementary baseball,” Parker said. “We’re not as one-dimensional as maybe we were six weeks ago or a month ago. We’re able to win games in a couple different ways. Tonight, we were really good offensively, and then we did enough at the end. Every one of these games in this league is hard to get. Some of them are ugly. Tonight got a little ugly there at the end, but we found a way.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
