HOOVER, Ala. — It should have been Dakota Jordan at the plate for Mississippi State with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday night, representing the tying run.
But with the Bulldogs’ star right fielder mired in an extended slump, Jordan had been replaced defensively earlier in the inning, costing him the chance to be a hero. Freshman Nolan Stevens had taken over for Jordan in the field, and Nate Chester pinch-hit for Stevens and kept MSU alive with an RBI single to right. After rallying for wins in the ninth the previous two days, though, the Bulldogs could not complete the comeback this time in a 4-3 loss to Vanderbilt.
With Jordan and slugger Hunter Hines both struggling, head coach Chris Lemonis shook up the lineup against the Commodores, moving the hot-hitting Connor Hujsak up to third and shifting Jordan to fourth and Hines all the way down to the seven-hole. Hujsak doubled and tripled, reaching base in four of his five plate appearances, but Jordan and Hines were each 0-for-4 and are now hitless in their last 38 at-bats combined.
“They’re just pressing. Trying to do too much,” Lemonis said. “I hate it for them. It’s such a fun time of year to play and they’re struggling a little bit, but they can be ready tomorrow. You just have to have the right mindset and attitude and come out here and compete.”
Sophomore Jurrangelo Cijntje continued MSU’s run of strong starting pitching in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, striking out the first six batters he faced and fanning 10 in all in six innings. But the bottom of Vanderbilt’s lineup did some damage against Cijntje in the third. Braden Holcombe led off with a single and JD Rogers bunted for a hit, reaching base safely when the Bulldogs had nobody covering first base.
Following a sacrifice bunt to turn the lineup over, Davis Diaz lined a two-run single into left field to put the Commodores in front. Vanderbilt extended the lead to three in the fifth when Cijntje walked Rogers to lead off the inning, then allowed a single to Calvin Hewett that moved Rogers to third before Rogers scored on a wild pitch.
“A bunt, a hit, an HBP, and then they get the big hit, and you have to give them credit for that,” Lemonis said. “They took that momentum, but (Cijntje) was really good. The stuff was really good. He competed at a high level.”
Commodores starter JD Thompson was serving a four-game suspension for use of a foreign substance when MSU played Vanderbilt last month, but he relished the chance to face the No. 5 seed Bulldogs at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, allowing just one run on five hits over six innings, striking out eight and issuing just one walk. MSU (38-20) had two runners aboard with one out in the first, but Thompson escaped the jam by striking out Jordan and Logan Kohler.
Hines struck out with a runner in scoring position to end the fourth and again with a man on base to end the sixth. The Bulldogs did get on the board in the sixth on a leadoff double by Hujsak and a two-out RBI single by Amani Larry, who is now 5-for-12 in the SEC Tournament.
“(Jordan and Hines) know who they are. We know who they are,” shortstop David Mershon said. “We’re just trying to keep them in the right mindset, the right frame of mind. They’re going to come around, we all know that. We’re excited for when that happens.”
The No. 8 seed Commodores (38-20) got that run right back in the seventh again thanks to the bottom three in their batting order. Holcomb drew a walk, moved up on Rogers’ sacrifice bunt and scored on Hewett’s RBI single to restore Vanderbilt’s three-run lead.
Bryce Chance reached on a throwing error and Mershon and Hujsak both walked with two outs in the bottom of that inning against hard-throwing reliever Greysen Carter, bringing Jordan to the plate as the potential go-ahead run. The Commodores turned to left-hander Ryan Ginther, who struck out Jordan on four pitches to end the threat.
“They’re super talented players, and they can get hot in an instant,” Lemonis said. “I spoke with both of them today. You hate it for them. As happy as you are for Connor Hujsak to be playing that well on this stage, it’s just as tough for the kid who’s not playing (well). They’ve worked so hard to get to this moment, and they need to have a couple balls hit their bat and find some holes and get going. We know how good they are.”
Mershon started another rally with MSU down to its final out in the ninth with a single up the middle, and he scored on Hujsak’s triple to left-center before Chester’s single made it a one-run game. But Ginther induced a ground ball from Kohler into the shifted infield for the final out.
For the first time in this tournament, the Bulldogs will face a team they did not play in the regular season when they battle No. 1 seed Tennessee in an elimination game Friday evening.
“We’re never out of it,” Mershon said. “We hit balls hard all night that they had us played well. That’s baseball sometimes. We had three or four times with guys on base that we lined out somewhere. If those balls fall, that’s a completely different game. We’re just going to stay on the same approach and keep going.”
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