Hunter Hines’ ninth-inning, two-run home run to give Mississippi State the lead — and eventually an 8-7 win at No. 11 Vanderbilt on Sunday — increased the Bulldogs’ odds of victory by more than 65 percent, according to 6-4-3 Charts. But the lefty slugger’s big swing may well end up having an even bigger impact on MSU’s season as a whole.
The Bulldogs, who won just nine games in Southeastern Conference play each of the last two years following their 2021 national championship, had already eclipsed that threshold heading into this weekend and were in good shape to return to the NCAA Tournament. Now, after winning a series on the road for the first time all season, MSU can start realistically thinking about the possibility of hosting a regional.
“We’re fighting with so many teams to get pushed up as high as we can,” Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis said. “Our goal is always to host. Every weekend you get like this pushes you into a better spot. We want to be a (regional) 1-seed when it comes down to it. That’s what our goal is. We can do that with what’s ahead of us.”
MSU (29-15, 12-9 SEC) vaulted 12 spots up the RPI rankings to No. 28 after taking two out of three from the No. 11 Commodores (31-13, 11-10). More than anyone, the Bulldogs have their junior first baseman to thank. In addition to his game-winner Sunday, Hines homered twice to help MSU to a 7-4 win Saturday, and all three of his long balls in the series came against left-handed pitching. He entered the weekend batting below .200 against southpaws.
Hardly anyone on the Bulldogs hit in Friday night’s game as Vanderbilt’s Bryce Cunningham threw a two-hit complete-game shutout in a 4-0 win for the Commodores. Jonathan Vastine and Alan Espinal each homered in the first inning against MSU ace Khal Stephen, who settled down after that and threw 7 ⅓ innings of five-hit ball.
But the Bulldogs could not solve Cunningham, managing just an infield single from Dakota Jordan and a double from Connor Hujsak. Cunningham issued just two walks, both to Hines, who also struck out twice.
“He threw three pitches for strikes, 94 to 97 (miles per hour),” Lemonis said. “We hit some balls hard, but the balls were going at them tonight. We didn’t have anything find a hole. Everything we got, we earned. But it just wasn’t enough.”
Hines was a one-man wrecking crew for much of Saturday’s game — he opened the scoring with a second-inning solo homer, drove in another run with a double in the fourth, then cranked a three-run blast in the sixth to put MSU on top 5-0. Brooks Auger, making a spot start, was outstanding for five-plus innings but ran into trouble in the sixth before giving way to Cam Schuelke, who allowed a three-run homer to Espinal that cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 5-3.
Vanderbilt pushed across one more run in the eighth against Tyson Hardin, but lefty Tyler Davis entered to put out the fire and strand the tying and go-ahead runs on base. MSU picked up two big insurance runs in the ninth on an Ethan Pulliam RBI double and a Joe Powell RBI single before Davis slammed the door.
“It’s one of our better games of the year,” Lemonis said. “You take out one inning and I thought we were pretty flawless. They threw a couple of really good pitchers and our kids were fighting, especially after last night. Hunter Hines, what a performance, especially off one of the better left-handers in the country. He really gave us a push there.”
The Bulldogs appeared to be coasting to a win Sunday after plating five runs in the third on a two-run double by Hujsak and a three-run homer from Logan Kohler, his first of the year. David Mershon added a solo shot an inning later to give Jurrangelo Cijntje a six-run lead, and Cijntje retired the first 12 batters he faced and then escaped a two-on, nobody-out jam in the fifth.
But things unraveled quickly in the sixth. The Commodores started the inning with three straight hits, and Espinal continued his stellar weekend with a one-out RBI single that chased Cijntje from the game. All of MSU’s top relievers had worked Saturday, so the Bulldogs turned to freshman Nolan Stevens, and he surrendered a three-run homer to Troy LaNeve that just kept carrying over the wall in left-center to tie the game, 6-6.
Vanderbilt then loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh before Stevens and Karson Ligon limited the Commodores to just one run, giving them the lead for the first time. Ligon got through the eighth with some help from Kohler at third, who threw out a runner at the plate to keep the Bulldogs’ deficit at a single run.
That helped set the stage for more heroics from Hines, who crushed his 12th homer of the season over the wall in right field with his team down to its final out. Hardin closed it out in the bottom of the ninth for his second save.
“We talked about taking the game and taking the series. Hunter took it there in the ninth,” Lemonis said. “His swings off the left-handers were great this weekend. They haven’t been great all year, but he’s starting to figure it out and play with some confidence. What a big swing. You’re down to your last out and he gets a big bop like that.”
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