After giving up an early two-run blast, Mississippi State responded for 12 runs in the first inning of its nonconference mid-week game against visiting Nicholls State and had no issue cruising to a 21-6 bounce-back win Tuesday night in seven innings.
The No. 11 Bulldogs (37-12, 14-10 SEC) cleansed away the taste of their SEC series loss at Texas over the weekend by racking up 18 hits and 20 RBI against the Colonels (25-23, 15-12 SLC) in their last non-conference match of the year – but it all started with MSU on the wrong side of a long ball.
Nicholls’ Caston Thompson delivered the no-out two-run shot off MSU starting pitcher Chris Billingsley in the top of the first inning to give his team a sudden burst of energy. The Colonels converted the sudden surge of juice into loud cheers and jeers that echoed across a mostly silent Dudy Noble Field. All the Bulldogs could do was wait for their turn at the plate to respond – and they answered loudly.
Blake Bevis hammered a one-run double to get MSU on the board, and an RBI single by Jacob Parker knotted the game at 2-2. Reed Stallman broke the contest open with a two-run double off Nicholls starting pitcher Austin Vargas, and an RBI single by Gehrig Frei kept the momentum going. Ace Reese added a two-run single before Parker capped the inning off with a Grand Slam. In total the Bulldogs produced six hits, 12 RBI and were walked seven times in the first inning.
From there it was cruise control for the Bulldogs. Stallman and Drew Wyers each hit solo homers in the second inning to grab a 14-2 lead, then Stallman hit his 10th homer of the year for two runs in the third inning. The Colonels managed to break up the Bulldogs’ spree of offense in the top of the fourth with three runs on singles by Jaxson Milam and Logan Terry. Reese provided MSU’s response with a solo homer over the left-field wall in the bottom of the inning, and Sullivan raced home during a wild pitch to put the Bulldogs up 18-5.
Keegan Giger stopped the bleeding for Nicholls once again with an RBI triple, but Reese reopened the wound with his second homer of the night – a three-run shot to right field that sailed out of the park.
Stallman and Reese each led the team with four hits and two homers. Parker had three hits, and Wyers had two.
State moves on to its SEC series against visiting Auburn, which begins at 7 p.m. Thursday.
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