STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State softball team has embraced the concept of “Toughness Sunday” this season, referring to the extra juice the Bulldogs need to bring even while exhausted at the end of a busy weekend.
Considering what the baseball squad was up against this week, MSU took that approach to another level. After Saturday night’s game in which almost all of State’s starting lineup was ejected and MSU ultimately lost by a run on a ninth-inning homer, MSU was in for another battle Sunday even with most of the starters back. Trailing three separate times, State pulled ahead for good with two runs in the eighth to take the critical rubber game from Georgia, 9-8.
“They’ll compete, and there were so many times today we could have folded, and they just refused,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “It’s been like that all year long. This hasn’t been an easy year. It’s been a pretty fulfilling year, but I feel like the old Rocky movie. We keep getting hit in the nose and keep getting back up. (My team) can play with anybody in the country.”
MSU (21-12, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) fought back from deficits of 5-0, 6-5 and 8-7, with Bryce Chance’s sacrifice fly plating the eventual winning run. Left-hander Tyler Davis was spectacular out of the bullpen, quieting Georgia’s powerful offense on just one hit over the final three innings.
Catcher Johnny Long, who helped instigate the incident Saturday night after a play at home plate, and third baseman Logan Kohler remained suspended Sunday, but the rest of the starters were reinstated. State finished Saturday’s game with only shortstop David Mershon and center fielder Connor Hujsak in the lineup and had multiple pitchers playing the outfield.
Sunday also brought the return of Nate Dohm, MSU’s Friday starter through the first four weeks of the season who left a game against Evansville on Mar. 8 with an injury to his throwing arm. Dohm tried to give it a go Sunday but exited after just eight pitches and one out recorded.
“It wasn’t anything major. He just didn’t feel comfortable, and I didn’t want to mess with it,” Lemonis said. “He’s too valuable. He has such a long career, and if he’s not feeling 100 percent, I don’t want him out there.”
Evan Siary relieved Dohm but was not at his sharpest — his control was off at times and he made too many mistakes in the strike zone. Georgia (24-8, 5-7) struck for five runs in the third, with former MSU infielder Slate Alford delivering an RBI single and Kolby Branch launching a grand slam to put State in a big hole.
MSU dug itself most of the way out in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of shaky Georgia defense. Amani Larry and Mershon were each plunked with one out, and Dakota Jordan singled up the middle, with two runs scoring on the play after Charlie Condon let the ball get past him in center field. UGA right fielder Tre Phelps dropped Hujsak’s fly ball later in the inning for a three-base error, and Hujsak scored on a single by Chance to make it 5-4.
“We did a good job of taking the momentum back,” Chance said. “That’s something we’ve been talking about a lot. When you lose momentum, you have to find a way to get it back, and you can’t wait. You have to do it as soon as you can.”
Hujsak’s second home run of the weekend tied the game in the fifth, and after Georgia pulled back in front in the top of the sixth, Joe Powell came through with an RBI double into the left-field corner in the bottom of the inning, later scoring on Jordan’s single to give MSU its first lead of the day.
But that lead did not even last one defensive out. Nate Chester, filling in for Kohler at third, airmailed a throw to first after fielding a ground ball to start the seventh, and Georgia followed with a single and a two-run double to go back ahead by a run. Davis then took over on the mound for Brooks Auger and held the visitors right where they were.
State had a golden opportunity to answer in its half of the seventh, drawing four straight walks from four different pitchers to start the inning. Typically, such a sequence would result in a run, but after pinch-hitter Aaron Downs took ball four, Hujsak thought the bases were already loaded and began jogging toward home plate. Georgia catcher Fernando Gonzalez snapped a throw to third, nailing Hujsak before he slid back in.
“We don’t win (this) game today without Connor Hujsak,” Lemonis said. “I’m sure he would like to put his head in the sand on that one, but he is such a good player and he is playing so hard and leading at such a high level.”
With the heart of the order due up, MSU put two runners on with one out in the eighth to bring Hujsak back to the plate, and his grounder up the middle skipped over Alford’s glove for an error that scored Jordan with the tying run. Chance then lifted a fly ball to right field that was plenty deep enough to bring in Hunter Hines.
Davis calmly retired the bottom of the Georgia lineup on two ground balls and a strikeout, and the crowd of 11,337 at Dudy Noble Field let out a collective roar of catharsis.
Another surely emotional week lies ahead for MSU, which hosts Alabama-Birmingham on Tuesday evening and then heads north to battle in-state rival Ole Miss for a three-game series in Oxford starting Friday night.
“The stadium erupted, and that was probably the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” Davis said. “It’s something that I’ll never forget for sure.”
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