PEARL — Brad Cumbest came back to the third-base dugout frustrated after his sixth-inning fly ball died at the wall in left center field for an out.

“Coach,” the Mississippi State left fielder told Chris Lemonis, “I can’t hit it any better than that.”

Multiple times in Tuesday’s Governor’s Cup game against Ole Miss, a vindictive wind and the oversized dimensions of Pearl’s Trustmark Park got the better of Cumbest and the Bulldogs.

Jess Davis reached the warning track in right field but got no further in the seventh. Logan Tanner was robbed by a running grab in center with a man aboard in the eighth. And as one final injustice, Cumbest’s smash to left in the ninth died at the fence, caught by left fielder Kevin Graham for the second-to-last out of the game.

One out later, Ole Miss (23-17) finished off a 5-2 win over Mississippi State (24-18) in a game Lemonis called “kind of a strange one.” The Rebels won the statewide rivalry contest for the first time since 2015, though the Bulldogs will content themselves with the past weekend’s Southeastern Conference series victory.

With home runs practically impossible and extra-base hits hard to come by, Mississippi State managed just four hits Tuesday, all of them singles. Hunter Hines’ infield single — and an Ole Miss throwing error — in the first inning accounted for both Bulldogs runs.

But MSU never added on, leaving Hines aboard in the first and stranding two men in the second.

“Offensively, I thought we missed some opportunities early,” Lemonis said.

RJ Yeager lined a single in the fifth, Luke Hancock did the same in the eighth, and Jess Davis had an infield single to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth.

But pinch hitter Von Seibert struck out to end the ballgame, and Ole Miss escaped the nonconference matchup with a win.

The Rebels broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning with three runs against Lane Forsythe as the Mississippi State shortstop pitched for just the third time this year.

After an unlucky double on a ball that bounced over the head of first baseman Hunter Hines, Forsythe gave up a two-run single to Tim Elko and a double to Kevin Graham before exiting.

A pitcher in high school in Tennessee, Forsythe wasn’t expected to be a large part — or any part — of MSU’s bullpen, but several injuries and a heavy load on the bullpen in the weekend series in Oxford pressed him into service.

Relievers Pico Kohn, KC Hunt and Jackson Fristoe were all unavailable, Lemonis said.

“We needed an extra inning or two, and we’re trying to get Lane going,” Lemonis said. “Lane’s had a lot of success. They just got on a couple balls. They chopped the one ball, and that ended up being a big part of that inning. I probably should have grabbed him one hitter early since we had Cam (Tullar) ready, but it is what it is. We need some other guys to help us out right now just because of our situation.”

Tullar relieved Forsythe after Graham’s double made it a 5-2 game and struck out two Rebels to get out of the inning. The lefty pitched the next three innings, finishing with eight strikeouts without allowing a run.

With four consecutive scoreless appearances, Tullar said things are beginning to look up for him and the Bulldogs bullpen as a whole.

“It was a slow start at the beginning of the year, but we’re just starting to get into a rhythm,” Tullar said.
Drew Talley added two punchouts in a scoreless ninth.

Starter Mikey Tepper settled down after a walk, triple and groundout brought home two Ole Miss runs out of the gate. Tepper finished four innings, doubling his career-high mark; he allowed just two hits and struck out four Rebels.

Tepper had a rough outing April 10 against LSU but otherwise has had mostly effective appearances since the first weekend of conference play.

“He was great. He was electric,” Tullar said of his teammate. “Every time he goes out there, he always does good.”

But the Bulldogs’ strong pitching couldn’t back up an offense that came up just short time and time again.

“I’m not happy to lose tonight, but I’m happy with how we’ve played over the last two or three weeks,” Lemonis said. “We’re coming together. I feel like we’ve got a chance to get on a roll.”

Mississippi State will travel to Missouri (22-16, 5-13 SEC) from Friday-Sunday, looking to avenge a surprising series loss last season in Starkville.

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