COLUMBIA, S.C. — Christian MacLeod needed a night like this.
Friday night after Friday night, the Mississippi State sophomore struggled to pitch deep into games. He failed to finish six innings in each of his past three games, going five against Ole Miss, 3.2 against Vanderbilt and four against Texas A&M.
But on Friday at No. 19 South Carolina, MacLeod took the baseball and proceeded to put all those too-short outings behind him.
He dominated the Gamecocks (27-16, 11-11 Southeastern Conference) through seven scoreless, one-hit innings as No. 4 Mississippi State (34-10, 15-7 SEC) cruised to a 9-0 win in Columbia, South Carolina.
“I thought it was a great team effort,” MacLeod said. “The guys swung the bats and put up nine runs on the board, and you can’t ask for much more as a starter than that.”
The Bulldogs couldn’t ask for much more from him, either. MacLeod walked two and struck out six in a superbly efficient performance, throwing just 89 pitches before giving way to Preston Johnson and KC Hunt for the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. He led the Bulldogs to their fourth straight SEC win and handed the Gamecocks their fifth consecutive conference loss.
“He was just able to keep them guessing all night,” Lemonis said. “I don’t think there was a lot of contact.”
The top three of Mississippi State’s order backed their pitcher at the plate to pace the Bulldogs’ offense. Rowdey Jordan, Tanner Allen and Kamren James finished a combined 8 for 11 with three walks and a hit-by-pitch, driving in six runs in all.
“If we can do that on a consistent basis, I think we’re going to win a lot of ballgames, drive in a lot of runs,” James said. “The bottom half of our order’s been swinging it well as well. If we get everybody on the same page, everybody hot, we’re going to be dangerous.”
James, who battled through an illness to finish 3 for 4 with a walk and four RBIs, had the biggest hit of the night, slicing a three-run double into the right-field corner in the top of the seventh to break the game open.
By doing so, he not only ensured Friday’s victory but put the Bulldogs in a much better position for the rest of the weekend. Mississippi State only needed to use Johnson and Hunt — and only for an inning apiece — instead of turning to its highest-leverage relievers like Landon Sims and Brandon Smith.
“That’s always huge on the weekend to get a win and not have to use them,” Lemonis said. “Even Preston, it’s almost better to get him out there and let him throw one. Now he’s comfortable, and he could come back and give us two more over the weekend.”
The Bulldogs added three more runs after James’ double to gain some separation. Brad Cumbest’s RBI double followed a passed ball that scored Scotty Dubrule, and Allen ripped a single to score Jordan from second.
Mississippi State got its first two runs in the first inning as James singled home Jordan with a liner into right-center and Luke Hancock grounded into a double play with men on the corners.
South Carolina had its best chance against MacLeod in the third with a one-out single and a walk, but the lefty retired the next two batters and got out of the inning, striking out Colin Burgess on a breaking ball in the dirt to end the frame.
“I ran into a little hiccup right there, but I just knew I needed to bear down,” MacLeod said.
It was a big step for a pitcher who in past weeks had typically run into trouble at similar stretches in his starts. With two more SEC series to go, MacLeod will have something to build on after a short outing against the Aggies on April 30 in Starkville.
“He was pissed last weekend, so I think this was one of those where he was coming out and he wanted to pitch well,” Lemonis said. “I’ve just seen a little bit of a different Christian lately with, ‘Hey, I’m going to go out there and pitch and give us a good chance to win,’ and he did that tonight.”
Game 2 of the series pits Mississippi State’s Will Bednar against South Carolina’s Will Sanders in a bona fide battle of Wills at Founders Park. First pitch will be at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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