PEARL — Mississippi State third baseman Slate Alford wasn’t worried by the time he stepped to the plate in a key situation against No. 25 Southern Miss at Trustmark Park.
His teammates’ at-bats had already taken most of the pressure off.
“Anytime you have good ABs before you, you get on a roll,” Alford said.
Lane Forsythe had a “crucial” leadoff double on a 3-2 count with the Bulldogs trailing 9-6 in the eighth inning. Colton Ledbetter drew an important walk. Dakota Jordan drove in a key run with a sacrifice fly.
Then it was Alford’s turn, and by then, he was ready.
Alford’s tying single through the right side was the biggest hit of a crucial frame, plating the tying run and putting men on the corners with just one out. Hunter Hines followed with a sacrifice fly to give MSU back the lead.
The Bulldogs (6-3) had rallied for four runs in the bottom of the eighth, propelling themselves to a 10-9 comeback win over the Golden Eagles (5-3) in a Magnolia State showdown in Pearl.
MSU avenged a 7-1 loss to USM at the same ballpark a season ago.
“They got us last year. We felt like we owed them boys something,” Alford said.
Mississippi State won its third straight game after a 13-4 loss to Arizona State on Friday, earning another big win after taking the series from the Sun Devils.
“It’s huge. It gives us some momentum going into the weekend,” Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said.
To seal the victory, Ball State transfer Nate Dohm shut down Southern Miss, a 2022 NCAA Super Regional participant, for the final 2 1/3 innings. Dohm worked around a one-out double in a tense top of the ninth.
The Golden Eagles scored just one run in the final four frames after pulling ahead with a four-run fifth inning that featured a pair of RBI doubles. Costly errors by MSU second baseman Amani Larry and pitcher Tyler Davis helped USM build its lead.
Southern Miss cashed in on three Bulldogs miscues as well as 11 walks issued by MSU pitching. Freshman left-hander Bradley Loftin gave out six free passes in his four-inning start and was charged with four runs, three of them earned.
“We’re not perfect right now,” Lemonis said. “We’re walking too many; we’re making some errors. But they’re competing. As we grow as a team, hopefully we clean some of that stuff up.”
Tyson Hardin put out a fire started by Davis in the fifth, pitching two innings of scoreless relief. Dohm took over with two out in the seventh and finished out the game, striking out pinch-hitter Slade Wilks to end it.
Lemonis credited the two pitchers’ relief performances, which played a major role in the victory.
“I thought they were great. The message was, ‘Pump it in there and let us make plays.’”
It worked in the final innings as Hardin and Dohm pitched to contact, but making plays was something with which Mississippi State struggled early on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs fell behind 2-0 on a throwing error by first baseman Luke Hancock that brought in two runs in the second.
But a bases-loaded walk to Amani Larry and a three-run, bases-clearing triple by Colton Ledbetter put Mississippi State right back on top.
Larry socked a solo home run in the fourth inning before Southern Miss put up a crooked number to retake the lead in the fifth.
Mississippi State will head to Texas to compete in the Frisco College Baseball Classic this weekend. The Bulldogs open up at 6 p.m. Friday against Ohio State before facing Oklahoma on Saturday and California on Sunday.
“I think they’re some good teams,” Alford said. “We’ll get back, look at them and treat it like any other game.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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