TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Will Bednar wasn’t worried.
After the sophomore right-hander walked Alabama’s Jim Jarvis on four pitches with one out in the eighth, Bednar was too locked in on the mound at Sewell-Thomas Stadium to let the free pass — on his 101st pitch of the night — rattle him.
“I figured I’d just keep rolling, keep attacking with my stuff and figured the rest would pan out,” Bednar said.
He came back to strike out Caden Rose on three pitches before Peyton Wilson ripped a two-out single into right. On a 1-2 pitch, Bednar froze William Hamiter for strike three to get out of the inning.
It was the capper of a tremendous night for the Pennsylvania native, who struck out 11 Crimson Tide batters over eight scoreless innings as No. 10 Mississippi State (39-13, 19-10 Southeastern Conference) shut out Alabama (29-21, 12-16), 7-0, on Friday night in Tuscaloosa.
“I feel great,” Bednar said after his career performance. “That was a lot of fun.”
He scattered just three hits on the night as the Bulldogs’ bats backed him throughout the night against Alabama righty Dylan Smith. Kamren James homered, Rowdey Jordan and Tanner Allen delivered RBI doubles and Luke Hancock singled home a run as the Bulldogs scored in four different innings Friday.
Jordan and Allen delivered back-to-back hits in the third and Hancock followed with a sac fly as Mississippi State took an early 4-0 lead.
“I think it took a lot of the pressure off our defense — let Will just go out there and pitch with a little freedom,” James said.
The freshman’s solo shot to left in the top of the second helped, too. James added a double in the eighth off Smith, who went 7.2 innings despite allowing six runs, as he put together a solid night at the plate.
“He is huge to our lineup,” Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said of James. “On weekends that we play really well, he’s always in the middle of it. He’s put some huge weekends together for us because he can hit for average, he can hit for power, and he can run.”
And with Bednar dealing, the Bulldogs’ eight hits on the game were plenty. The sophomore pointed to his change-up as a reason for success Friday night.
“There’s still some more room to improve with it, but I definitely made a lot of progress, and I’m happy with where it’s at right now,” he said.
Allen added a sac fly in the fifth before Hancock’s single up the middle drove home Jordan from third. In the ninth, Logan Tanner’s groundout brought home the seventh run of the game.
Brandon Smith relieved Bednar for the bottom of the ninth, delivering a quick 1-2-3 inning. Lemonis said he was glad not to empty his bullpen in either game so far this series, as Christian MacLeod went seven innings and Landon Sims finished things out Thursday.
“Starting pitching dictates so much, and we’ve gotten two great starts from our guys on the road,” Lemonis said. “We have a handful of fresh arms to go tomorrow.”
The Bulldogs have yet to name a starter for a game Lemonis expects to be a battle of the bullpens with the Tide also saving most of their top relievers for Saturday’s 1 p.m. contest.
If Mississippi State can seal off the sweep, it will finish the regular season at 20-10 in conference play — a mark that could be critical as the Bulldogs fight for a top-eight national seed.
“Every win right now, we’re building a résumé still,” Lemonis said. “We’re on the last game of the season, and our résumé piece may dictate a lot of things: from hosts to national seeds to where you play in the tournament next week. Every game is huge, and we’d like to have one more piece of our résumé tomorrow.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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