COLUMBIA, Mo. — Mississippi State baseball had a weekend for the record books in Missouri, sweeping the Tigers in the regular season finale thanks to a prolific display at the plate.
The Bulldogs, 34-20, got back to .500 in Southeastern Conference play, scoring 50 runs in three games against Mizzou, including four home runs from Hunter Hines. He hit a pair of home runs in the ninth inning on Thursday to ties the program record and added another in each of the remaining two games to take his career tally to 69, surpassing Rafael Palmeiro’s program record of 67.
The Bulldogs recorded 15 home runs in the series, reaching 97 home runs on the season and tying a program record set by the 1998 Bulldogs.
“The elephant is off the back, it feels great,” Hines said in a postgame interview with SEC Network on Friday.
“It’s really special, especially to see his teammates react,” said interim head coach Justin Parker on Friday. “It was cool for him and his family, Coach Gautreau, and all the guys. It was pure elation. You don’t see Hunter smile too often, but he’s been smiling a lot lately, so that’s good to see.”
Hines and the Bulldogs still had a Saturday game to play, and he went yard in the very first inning to add to the record. It was the start of a six-run first inning, with Ross Highfil, Nolan Stevens and Gatlin Sanders adding to the tally with RBI hits.
The Bulldogs were up 8-1 in a flash and would add four more runs over the middle innings to complete a 12-1 run-rule win.
Along with the remarkable 25-7 victory on Thursday and the 13-3 win on Friday, the Bulldogs amassed 40 runs in the series against Mizzou. The team is 9-1 since Parker took over as interim head coach, and will head to Hoover, Ala. for the SEC Tournament next week with renewed confidence.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
