STARKVILLE — Speaking with reporters following Mississippi State’s rout of North Alabama Wednesday, fourth-year junior outfielder Tanner Allen promised a fireworks show with No. 2 Arkansas coming to town. Only the Razorbacks, though, lit a fuse Friday night.
Tagging MSU starter Christian MacLeod for three homers in the first inning and four overall, Arkansas (17-4, 3-1 SEC) took Game 1 of this weekend’s three-game set 8-2 over the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs (17-5, 2-2).
“I think the stuff was a little down today just wasn’t as sharp as he was last weekend,” head coach Chris Lemonis said, “and when you’re not sharp and you don’t make pitches to good hitters, that’s what happens.”
Taking the bump before a season-high crowd of 6,115 that appeared closer to 8,000-plus, MacLeod looked like a shell of the pitcher who dominated No. 22 LSU last week win in Baton Rouge. Pitch after pitch, batter after batter, the Razorback lineup barreled up MSU’s ace. Four balls left the ballpark. Even those that didn’t flirted with departing Dudy Noble Field.
Arkansas No. 2 hitter Matt Goodheart delivered the first spark of the night when he sent a hung fastball into over the right-field bleachers. Cayden Wallace followed Goodheart’s lead four pitches later when he narrowly snuck one just beyond the wall in left field for the latter portion of back-to-back jacks.
Not to be outdone, Christian Franklin notched the first of his two homers off MacLeod two batters later with an opposite-field shot into Adkerson Plaza just eight pitches after Goodheart first left the yard.
Stepping off the mound at the end of the frame, a clearly dejected MacLeod stared into the turf as he strode toward the MSU dugout. Greeted by a handful of teammates, he offered a handful of half-hearted high-fives as the Super Regional-esque environment around Dudy Noble Field fell deathly silent.
“They were able to get on him in the first and kind of set the tone for the night,” Lemonis said.
Yanking MacLeod after he surrendered five runs in 3.2 innings pitched, Furman transfer Stone Simmons delivered his sharpest showing of the season. Inheriting a runner on third with two outs upon entering, Simmons struck out the first batter he faced to escape the fourth inning. Strutting back out to the bump, he retired the next six batters he faced before putting two Arkansas runners in the seventh to end his night.
Facing a Razorbacks staff that hadn’t allowed less than five runs in a Game 1 this season, the Bulldogs were consistently fooled by Arkansas starter Patrick Wicklander.
Normally slated as a middle reliever or midweek starter, Wicklander carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. One after another, he forced MSU into soft grounders and high pop-ups rather than the line drives and gap-finding extra base hits it enjoyed for the bulk of nonconference play.
The Bulldogs were further silenced by Razorbacks reliever Peyton Pallette, who’s spent the bulk of this season as a weekend starter.
In all, MSU mustered just four hits on the night, its lone runs coming on a pair of RBI singles by fourth-year junior centerfielder Rowdey Jordan and freshman shortstop Lane Forsythe.
“Just having good at-bats is the biggest thing,” Jordan said of how MSU can regroup at the plate into Game 2 Saturday. “You start having good at-bats, then a hit falls, then another hit falls, then it starts rolling a little bit.”
With the loss, the Bulldogs have now lost four consecutive games against the Razorbacks dating back to 2019. Arkansas’ victory was also its first in Starkville since March 2014.
“We’ve got a really good team and it just wasn’t our night,” an impassioned yet resolute Jordan continued. “They had some good hit balls in the first inning. Their pitcher came out and competed well and it didn’t go our way. We know we’re a good team. Got a lot of confidence. We’re going to come out and play tomorrow.”
Dawg notes
Senior reliever Riley Self left the game in the eighth inning with an apparent arm injury. Lemonis said the Bulldogs wouldn’t have an update until early next week but that it didn’t look good.
“We’ll have it looked at probably on Monday and try to figure it out,” Lemonis said. “It didn’t look good just from years of sitting in the dugout, but you hate it. Awesome kid. Passionate kid. Big part of who we are and you hate to see him walk off the field that way.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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