HATTIESBURG — Mississippi State dropped its first game of the season on Tuesday, losing 3-0 to Southern Miss at Pete Taylor Park.
The Bulldogs, now 3-1 on the year, didn’t manage a hit until the sixth inning against a strong bullpen performance from the Golden Eagles. They would add another three hits over the next two innings, getting into two-out situations but only getting one runner in scoring position all game.
Freshman Charlie Foster got the start on the road for the Bulldogs but was pulled after the second inning, allowing three early runs and walking a pair of batters to go with three strikeouts. Ben Davis, Evan Siary, Robert Fortenberry and Chase Hungate all came on in relief, steadying the ship for the Bulldogs but seeing no returns on the offensive side to get the team back in the game.
“We knew tonight that Charlie was going two or three (innings),” Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis said in postgame comments. “We are very talented on the pitching staff, we just have a lot of new guys. We’re trying to get them out there and get a feel for it. For Charlie, we’re trying to get him out there as much as we can.”
Starkville native Colby Allen got the win on the mound for the Golden Eagles, pitching four innings while allowing no hits and striking out five Bulldogs. Cal Culpepper and Josh Och also contributed from the bullpen before Landen Payne closed out the game to register a save. The Golden Eagles’ staff combined for 10 strikeouts with just one walk all night in an efficient and suffocating defensive performance.
The Bulldogs’ lack of end product at the plate was stark in contrast to the high-flying production at the weekend in a prolific sweep of Manhattan in Starkville. Lukas Buckner got a pair of hits in his two at-bats after replacing Sawyer Reeves in the lineup, including MSU’s first hit of the game in the second inning, but there weren’t a lot of positives otherwise.
“We’ve got to get better,” Lemonis said of the offensive production. “We’ve got to compete more, we’re better than that. We’re not adjusting well in the box. From Sunday to today, guys are throwing sinkers and usually when you get sinkers you move up in the box and have a plan. We’re having a hard time getting guys to make some adjustments and we saw that on Sunday, too. We’re going to have to get better here in the next couple of days and get ready for Friday.”
The Bulldogs return to Starkville for another weekend series starting on Friday afternoon against Missouri State, a mid-week matchup at home with Troy next Tuesday and then the Astros Foundation College Classic in Houston the following weekend.
MSU will get another shot at Southern Miss on March 4 when the Golden Eagles travel to Starkville for a midweek matchup.
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