STARKVILLE — The final tune-up before the biggest series of the year is out of the way for No. 4 Mississippi State.
While visiting Arkansas State made the Bulldogs sweat for the first six frames, the Bulldogs eventually pulverized the Red Wolves’ bullpen and earned a decisive victory in a midweek contest, winning 18-10 Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field.
It was the eighth straight win since Tanner Allen’s promise the Bulldogs would rebound after being swept by Arkansas in late March. Now, MSU (25-7) will turn its attention to welcoming No. 6 Ole Miss for a three-game series that will play a crucial role in determining the Bulldogs’ prospects for hosting a Super Regional.
“Our eyes are on Ole Miss now,” MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. “We’re focused on having a good week of practice and getting ready for a couple key games here.”
After only going one inning in his last start against Southern, MSU starting pitcher Carlisle Koestler was stretched out further Tuesday but ran into problems. He stranded two runners in the first inning, but threw a hanging breaking ball to Arkansas State’s Jake Gish that turned into a wall-scraping home run over left field. The Red Wolves (9-17) tagged Koestler for two more runs in the third after an RBI groundout and an RBI single. Koestler’s final line included 2.2 innings of work, three runs allowed on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
But he was picked up by a bullpen that combined to throw 6.1 shutout innings until the Red Wolves added seven in the ninth when the contest was well out of hand.
“It’s frustrating,” Lemonis said of the extended ninth inning. “I know the kids are frustrated too, but we have to come out and make pitches and play a clean ball game.”
The biggest of all 27 outs came from Cade Smith striking out Drew Tipton with the bases loaded in a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning. MSU’s pitching staff as a whole whiffed 15 batters, the 12th straight game the Bulldogs have recorded double-digit punchouts, adding on to a school record.
Rowdey Jordan extended his on-base streak to 17 games with a leadoff home run that traveled 383 feet in the bottom of the first inning. After finishing 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, he has a hit in 10 of his last 11 games, and in the one where he didn’t record a knock, he was hit by a pitch on four separate occasions.
“Rowdey swinging it the way he can is changing our lineup,” Lemonis said.
Arkansas State pitcher Tyler Jeans settled into a rhythm after allowing the leadoff home run to Jordan, retiring nine straight MSU batters, but he allowed three straight walks to lead off the fourth inning. One batter later, Logan Tanner drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, but that’s all the Bulldogs could muster as they stranded two runners.
Freshman Lane Forsythe, a defensive wizard at shortstop, hit the first home run of his career in the fifth inning to tie the game at three apiece. Forsythe, who finished a triple shy of the cycle after going 3 for 4 with three runs scored, had an RBI double in the sixth that bounced off the brick wall of Adkerson Plaza to take a 5-3 lead.
“Right now at the plate I’m trying to stay loose and locked in on every pitch I get,” Forsythe said. “I don’t want to think too much when I step in the box.”
The Bulldogs were relentless in the eighth inning, plating 12 runs that came via a combination of home runs, singles and way too many wild pitches from Arkansas State.
“We’re close,” Lemonis said of the hitting coming around. “We’re playing better 1-9 and the lineup is having more success.”
MSU is back in action for Super Bulldog Weekend against Ole Miss starting at 6 p.m. Friday at Dudy Noble Field.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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