STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State baseball team’s mercurial offense continued to resemble night and day, but both iterations were still good enough for the Bulldogs in Sunday’s doubleheader with Princeton.

No. 23 MSU (10-7) scored just three runs in Game 1 but put up seven in the first two innings of Game 2, taking both games from the winless Tigers (0-11) at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs hung on for a 3-2 win in the first game and posted a 9-1 victory in the second to sweep a multigame series for the first time this season.

And it could come just in time for an MSU team poised to open Southeastern Conference play Friday at No. 20 Georgia.

“I think going into a big weekend like this weekend with some confidence on our shoulders, I think that’s huge,” right fielder Kellum Clark said.

The Bulldogs cruised behind a strong outing from Cade Smith and a balanced offensive showing in Game 2, closing the series on a high note offensively. Mississippi State posted a six-spot in the second inning, capped by Clark’s two-run home run to right field.

Clark, who drove in seven runs with a pair of three-run shots Friday, continued to tear the cover off the baseball Sunday. He had five hits between the two games, including doubles in both contests, after entering the weekend with five hits on the season.

“I’m just glad that we’re winning, to be honest with you,” Clark said. “It feels good barreling up some balls.”

Freshman Hunter Hines also stayed hot with a two-run double in the Bulldogs’ big inning. An error and a Logan Tanner sacrifice fly plated the other two runs in the frame.

RJ Yeager, who has heated up despite inconsistent playing time, scorched a two-run double down the third-base line in the fifth inning.

It was the final blow from Mississippi State’s offense in support of Smith, who did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. Smith finished with seven strikeouts in five innings, allowing just two hits.

The sophomore bounced back from an uneven outing last week at Tulane in which he gave up eight hits and four runs in 6 1/3 innings. He is the only MSU pitcher to have started a game in all four weekends this season.

“Cade was good,” Lemonis said. “Probably a couple more pitches than normal, but his stuff was good. He’s given us a handful of good starts. He just shows up, and it’s three pitches for strikes, and it’s very competitive and very consistent. He’s been good.”

A pair of freshman left-handers finished out the seven-inning second game for Mississippi State. Pico Kohn allowed a solo home run in the sixth inning, and Cole Cheatham pitched a scoreless seventh.

It was a much more comfortable margin for the Bulldogs than in Game 1, where Princeton came close to erasing a two-run deficit in the ninth and final frame. The Tigers made it a 3-2 game when left fielder Kamren James lost a fly ball in the afternoon sun, but several MSU players noticed the Princeton batter passed a teammate on the base paths and was called out.

“I didn’t really see it, but I saw a dude run to second as soon as Kam had lost it. But then I saw them kind of looking at each other,” Clark said, darting his eyes back and forth to recreate the moment. “When I saw that, I was like, ‘He definitely ran past him.’ I could tell without a doubt.”

Mikey Tepper — the fourth MSU reliever of the inning — induced a groundout to shortstop for the final out, preserving a narrow margin of victory for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State had just six hits in support of Parker Stinnett, who dazzled with a career-high 12 strikeouts Tuesday against No. 17 Texas Tech in Biloxi and matched that mark Sunday in Game 1. Stinnett allowed just four hits and one run to go along with his 12 punchouts over six strong innings.

He threw 91 pitches Sunday just five days after throwing 93 pitches in his first start of the year.

“My arm’s a little bit tired, but it felt good before the game,” Stinnett said.

A starter at Northwest Mississippi Community College, Stinnett said he has no problem starting or relieving for the Bulldogs. He started just once in 17 appearances last season and came out of the bullpen in each of his first four outings this year.

Stinnett said it often takes him a batter or two to settle into a game, as evidenced when he allowed three hits and two walks in the first two innings. But he struck out the side in order in the third and shut Princeton down for the rest of his outing.

“He’s a guy for next weekend,” Lemonis said. “You’ve got a weekend starter, and that’s kind of what we thought. Probably I’ve misused him for a year and a half in terms of he is more of a starter than he is a bullpen guy.”

Mississippi State rallied to pull ahead in the third inning, with Hines walking with the bases loaded and Tanner delivering a sacrifice fly.

Freshman Slate Alford added a sixth-inning RBI single for the Bulldogs.

MSU will host Binghamton (3-9) at 6 p.m. Monday. The game was rescheduled from Tuesday because of forecasted bad weather.

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