TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Tanner Allen turned to Alabama catcher Sam Praytor and voiced his frustration.

Against Crimson Tide starter Tyler Ras in Thursday’s game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Allen and Mississippi State hadn’t managed much offense. Baffled by the unexpected cutting action on Ras’ fastball, the Bulldogs struggled to string hits together and get runs on the board.

So Allen sought out his good friend behind the dish to discuss the righty’s frustrating heater, which cut sharply in on Allen’s hands in the left-handed batter’s box.

“He was like, “Dude, he’s just getting around on that fastball,’” Allen said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, man, it’s killing me. I need to get a ball over the plate.’”

In the seventh inning, Ras gave Allen the pitch he was looking for. The senior ripped a two-run double that capped a four-run frame as the Bulldogs (38-13, 18-10 Southeastern Conference), rallied for a 4-2 win over the Crimson Tide (29-20, 12-15) on Thursday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

“He’s just really good,” Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said of Allen, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a sixth-inning single before his big hit in the seventh. “I don’t even know if it’s a hot streak. He’s just a special hitter. He is hot, but he’s just a special hitter. There’s probably nobody in the country with more confidence in the box.”

Allen’s double gave the Bulldogs necessary insurance two batters after freshman Lane Forsythe ripped an infield hit to put Mississippi State on top for the first time Thursday. Fellow freshman Kellum Clark tied the game minutes earlier with an RBI double off the wall in center field.

“You get to this time of year, it’s always nice to have another hitter kind of get hot,” Lemonis said of Clark, who went 2 for 4. “He’s got his swing going right now. For a freshman and a power hitter, he doesn’t swing out of the zone, either. He’s usually sitting in pretty good counts and giving himself a chance to hit.”

The offensive outburst backed another strong start from left-hander Christian MacLeod, who pitched seven innings for the second straight road series. MacLeod struck out 10 Crimson Tide hitters, bearing down to get through the seventh after the Bulldogs handed him a lead.

“I knew my day was probably done after that, so I left it all out on the line in that last inning,” he said.

A fifth-inning home run by Jackson Tate that carried over the right-field wall was the only blemish against the lefty before a two-out RBI single in the seventh by Bryce Eblin, who came off the bench because of an injury to Alabama first baseman Davis Heller on Forsythe’s go-ahead hit.

Eblin’s hit made it a 4-2 contest and brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but MacLeod got Jim Jarvis to fly out to center to end the inning and put a nice cap on his outing.

“C-Mac had a heck of a night,” Allen said.

And once MacLeod departed with the Bulldogs still ahead, there wasn’t much question about who would be tasked with protecting the advantage. Landon Sims entered in the bottom of the eighth, pitched a scoreless frame and proceeded to strike out the side in order in the ninth to end the game.

“I don’t think there’s a better feeling in the world than him coming out of the bullpen,” MacLeod said. “That dude has so much confidence, and we have so much confidence in him. When we know he’s in the ballgame, it’s an unreal feeling.”

Even when a leadoff walk and a one-out single put two men on in the eighth, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Sims escaped. He did so with a strikeout of Zane Denton and a deep flyout to center by Praytor.

In the ninth, Sims carved up Owen Diodati, Tate and Heller to give the Bulldogs an important win after last weekend’s series loss to last-place Missouri. Mississippi State is still playing for a top-eight national seed and is squarely in the mix for a top-four seed and a first-round bye in next week’s SEC tournament.

“This time of year, everybody’s playing for so much,” Lemonis said. “The focus level is so high. You’re getting everybody’s best shot.”

Allen is certainly giving the Bulldogs his best effort as the season winds down. Lemonis said he can hear the intelligent conversations the right fielder has with hitting coach Jake Gautreau in the dugout, the comments Allen makes as he watches his teammates at the plate.

The senior said he’ll do his best to keep up his red-hot hitting as long as he can.

“You know how baseball is: It’s a game of ups and downs,” Allen said. “Right now, it’s been up for a while, so there’ll be a down soon in the future. It’s all about adjustments. It’s all about how you handle the failure, how you handle the success.

“I just feel really good at the plate right now,” he said.

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.