MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Chris Lemonis slammed his maroon cap into the dirt behind home plate.
Irate over a check-swing call in the bottom of the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game against Memphis, the Mississippi State head coach was ejected before he ever stepped out of the dugout to argue the decision.
But Lemonis made sure to get his money’s worth. He strode onto the field and screamed at home plate umpire Brandon Bennett, who ruled that Memphis shortstop Ben Brooks held up on a 3-2 pitch from the Bulldogs’ Drew Talley and did not check with first-base umpire Tim Cooper. Lemonis spiked his hat, picked it up and exited from whence he came as the Daniel Powter song “Bad Day” began to blare through the AutoZone Park speakers.
Once he left, Mississippi State finally showed up.
Fueled by their skipper’s early departure, the Bulldogs (16-10) struck for six runs in the top of the sixth en route to a 10-4 win over the Tigers (12-9) on Tuesday.
“I think we kind of woke up a little bit,” catcher Logan Tanner said. “We were kind of sleepwalking there at the beginning.”
Mississippi State was held without a hit through five innings but changed that before Memphis could even record an out in the sixth, hitting two home runs and walking three times in the big inning.
The Bulldogs added four runs late in the game to stretch out the lead. Right fielder Kellum Clark was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh; in the eighth, pinch hitter Von Seibert had an RBI single, Kamren James added a sac fly, and a wild pitch pushed the Bulldogs into double digits.
MSU took advantage of plenty of freebies Tuesday, putting 17 men on base on just seven hits. Memphis pitchers walked 10 Bulldogs and hit two, not to mention the error and pair of wild pitches that accounted for three runs.
Five Mississippi State pitchers combined to issue four walks, but the Bulldogs were strong on the mound with the exception of the middle innings.
Blake Daniels came around to score after a leadoff double in the third, and center fielder Zach Wilson hit a two-run, two-out triple in the fourth.
Wilson’s hit came off KC Hunt, who made his first appearance for the Bulldogs since his start against Long Beach State on Feb. 19. Hunt got two hard-hit flyouts before a bloop single and a walk kept the inning alive for Wilson’s triple.
Reliever Jackson Fristoe praised Hunt and said his teammate’s return will be valuable for the Bulldogs.
“It helps us a lot,” Fristoe said. “He’s got to get going, but he did good tonight. He’ll just keep on getting better, so we’ll definitely need him.”
Mississippi State rallied after Brooks, given a walk by virtue of the bad call, scored in the fifth off a single by designated hitter Jacob Compton to put Memphis up 4-0.
“We weren’t playing good baseball,” Tanner said. “We weren’t playing clean baseball. They were ramming it up our butts there for about four or five innings.”
Jess Davis worked a walk before third baseman Kamren James launched a two-run homer to left field, and Tanner followed with a one-out solo shot to practically the same spot to cut the deficit to just one run.
In the dugout, hitting coach Jake Gautreau was set to meet with MSU’s batters after the top of the sixth. But seeing James and Tanner go deep showed Gautreau that Lemonis’ ejection was inspiration enough.
“He got the boys pretty fired up on his own,” Gautreau said.
Brad Cumbest reached on an error, tying the game, before a wild pitch gave the Bulldogs the lead and an RBI groundout by second baseman RJ Yeager extended it to two runs.
Mississippi State’s bullpen locked in from there, keeping Memphis scoreless the rest of the way.
Mikey Tepper pitched a hitless sixth, and Fristoe bounced back after allowing the first two men to reach in the seventh. Fristoe then cut down the Tigers quickly in a 1-2-3 eighth and repeated the feat in the ninth.
It was a much-needed effort from the sophomore from Kentucky after he gave up three runs on Saturday against Alabama.
“He was commanding the zone,” Tanner said of Fristoe. “He commanded the curveball and the slider in the zone, and he was working ahead.”
Brandon Smith drew the start for MSU and pitched two scoreless innings, while Drew Talley allowed a run in the third.
The Bulldogs were able to keep much of their usual relievers fresh ahead of this weekend’s series at No. 2 Arkansas. The three-game set begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
For Mississippi State, it’s an opportunity to make up for a sweep at the hands of the Razorbacks last season in Starkville.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a chip on our shoulder,” Tanner said. “I’d say we want to go in and play good baseball. That’s all you can do.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion