PEARL — Chris Lemonis pointed out to left center field, indicating the scoreboard where the zeros had been piling up.

Inning after inning Wednesday night, the Mississippi State baseball coach watched from the first-base dugout at Trustmark Park as the Bulldogs failed to score. Southern Miss, meanwhile, had no such difficulty: The Golden Eagles put up runs in the third inning, the fourth, the fifth and the sixth.

But not long after No. 9 Mississippi State (5-4) wrapped up a 7-1 loss to Southern Miss (6-2), Lemonis pointed at another category altogether.

Seven hits for the Bulldogs. Seven hits for the Golden Eagles.

And yet, a world of difference.

“They got their walks, they got timely hits, they got two-out hits, and that really helped them beat us tonight,” Mississippi State catcher Logan Tanner said.

Southern Miss walked seven times against MSU pitching and had four hits with runners in scoring position. The Bulldogs, by comparison, drew just two walks, went 0 for 6 with men in scoring position and hit just 3 for 14 with runners on base at all.

Lemonis said he hardly remembered any at-bats with men on base for his team. The fourth-year MSU coach said his hitters were again “pressing” and “trying to do too much” at the plate.

“Right now, we don’t have any approach, so that’s the hard part,” Lemonis said.

Mississippi State hitters struck out 13 times against Southern Miss starter Tanner Hall, who went seven scoreless innings. Hall had at least two strikeouts in four straight innings, starting with the second, as he set a new career high mark.

Tanner had an RBI double against reliever Landon Harper in the eighth inning, one of two hits for Mississippi State. He said the Bulldogs needed to adjust to Hall’s arsenal after their first time facing him, but that never happened.

Not that Hall made it easy for MSU on Wednesday.

“Their guy was really good,” Tanner said. “He attacked the zone. He threw a really good split-finger … and he was throwing a bowling-ball sinker.”

By contrast, Mississippi State had a subpar pitching performance all around as three of the Bulldogs’ six pitchers issued multiple walks.

Starter Jackson Fristoe walked two Golden Eagles and hit another in three-plus innings, allowing four hits and four runs. Fristoe did not record a single strikeout, and Lemonis said that will have to change.

“He competed on some pitches in some innings, but we need more out of him,” Lemonis said. “We need more out of his starts.”

Tanner wasn’t the only one not throwing enough strikes for the Bulldogs. In a game featuring three freshman relievers, Pico Kohn walked two and gave up two runs in 1.2 innings, and Cole Cheatham walked the bases loaded in his MSU debut in the eighth inning before Brooks Auger put out the fire.

“I’d rather a guy get hit around for three or four hits than walk a guy and give up a homer,” Tanner said. “At least you know you’re pounding the zone at that point.”

Brandon Smith gave up one run in 1.1 innings of work, and Mikey Tepper pitched a scoreless seventh. Neither reliever walked a batter.
But at that point, it was too little, too late. Slade Wilks’ two-run double off Kohn in the fifth inning was a key blow, pushing Southern Miss’ lead to 6-0.

Gabe Montenegro added an RBI single to his third-inning triple, which found the gap in right-center to bring home two runs. Reece Ewing scored Montenegro with a single, and a wild pitch in the fourth added another run for the Golden Eagles.

Mississippi State, meanwhile, appeared determined to strand every runner who managed to reach base against Hall. Freshman Aaron Downs struck out with two runners on in the fourth and again with the bases loaded in the sixth.

Downs had been hitting well since earning his first start Sunday against Northern Kentucky in place of Kellum Clark, who remains hitless in 16 at-bats this season after a pinch-hit groundout in the ninth inning.

“Everybody’s trying to get in the lineup, and nobody’s hitting good enough to be in the lineup,” Lemonis said.

Such has been the problem for the Bulldogs amid a mediocre start to the season. Mississippi State will travel to Tulane for a three-game series beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday, hoping to solve its offensive issues.

Lemonis said his message to his team after Wednesday’s loss was simple: “We have to get better.”

“There’s no way out of it besides putting your head down and fighting through it, and that’s what we’ve got to do,” he said.

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