STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball got the momentum swing it so desperately needed on Saturday afternoon.
Starter Nate Dohm’s early struggles saw the Bulldogs trail 3-1 against No. 9 South Carolina headed into the sixth, but they got a rally going, loading the bases with no outs. Hunter Hines nearly put the inning in jeopardy, hitting into a double play, but a run scored to make it 3-2.
With a runner on, in stepped freshman Dakota Jordan, already with a home run in the series. He came up big again, putting Mississippi State in front with a two-run opposite field shot.
Dudy Noble Field exploded, but that would be the last major hurrah of the Bulldogs as the Gamecocks scored seven in the ninth, taking the game, 14-5, and the series.
“The reason they’re where they’re at and where we’re at is those little pieces of lack of execution,” Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis said. “We have to throw the ball in the strike zone. We have to come out and be the aggressor.”
A 4-3 lead in the sixth was lost in the seventh after Cole Messina singled home a run to tie things up at 4-4.
Mississippi State (16-13, 1-8 SEC) seemed to be hanging on a thread despite a strong start from Dohm after giving up three solo home runs in the first two innings of the game, striking out a season-high nine in 5.2 innings of work.
“The emphasis from there on was to keep them on their toes, keep them from taking those big swings, and it really worked,” Dohm said. “…[Assistant coach Scott Foxhall] kind of told me that you close the first, close the second, close the third, just kind of staying in that mindset of you’re a closer, but you’re starting at the front of the game.”
That was especially true in the top of the eighth as the Gamecocks (26-3, 8-1 SEC) loaded the bases with no outs, leaving freshman Ethan Petry up at the plate to continue his torrid pace to begin the season.
He unloaded the bases with a three-run double and is currently hitting .442 on the year after a three-hit performance on Saturday.
The wheels came off the bus in the top of the ninth as a throwing error, walk and bunt single once again loaded the bases with no outs for the Gamecocks, and from there, they recorded four straight RBI hits, breaking the game open for good.
“We had a lot of fight today,” Lemonis said. “In the seventh inning, we’re winning. We have a chance to have a great series win, but we don’t make them have to earn it. We freaking give it to them. It’s frustrating. It really is.”
Offensively, Jordan has been a bright spot on the Bulldogs this week, going 10-for-15 with two homers in as many days, and a two-hit game on Saturday.
The freshman went through some early-season struggles, but has settled in well since that point.
“When I was at my best, I was dominating in the fall and spring, not thinking too much, not trying to do too much,” Jordan said. “Letting my game play and playing with that swagger that I always play with. Now, I’m feeling it and I’m going to try my best to keep it going.”
This series was the closest and most competitive conference series of the season for the Bulldogs and it seems like even though results still aren’t going their way, the dial is nearly turned.
“We’re this close to getting going and being a good team, but we lack aggression, a lack of going right at their ass,” Lemonis said.
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