Mississippi State easily could have left Gainesville with a sweep of No. 6 Florida. But the bullpen could not make late leads stand up in both the series opener and the finale, and so the Bulldogs are returning home with a sour taste in their mouths after dropping two out of three.
Purdue transfer Khal Stephen gave No. 21 MSU (19-10, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) another quality start Friday night, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out eight over six strong innings. He gave up a pair of early solo home runs but no other damage, and the Bulldogs got on the board in the top of the third on Dakota Jordan’s RBI single.
MSU then played small ball during a four-run rally in the fourth, using two hit batters and three walks to take a three-run lead. Bryce Chance’s RBI single in the seventh extended the Bulldog lead to four, but after a scoreless bottom of the seventh from Cam Schuelke, things began to unravel in the eighth. Lefty Tyler Davis walked the only two batters he faced before giving way to Brooks Auger, who allowed both inherited runners to score before escaping the inning.
The visitors still carried a two-run lead into the bottom of the ninth, but with two runners on and one out, freshman Nolan Stevens took over for Auger, and after getting a strikeout, Stevens allowed a pair of singles before walking in the tying run. Cade Kurland then singled on an 0-2 pitch to walk things off for No. 6 Florida, 7-6.
MSU’s power came to life in Saturday’s 12-2 victory. The Bulldogs exploded for 11 runs over the middle three innings and hit five home runs, with Jordan and Connor Hujsak each going deep twice. With MSU trailing by a run in the fourth, David Mershon and Jordan went back-to-back to give the Bulldogs the lead for good. They continued piling on in that inning on run-scoring singles from Nate Chester, Johnny Long and Amani Larry.
Jordan and Hujsak each went yard in the fifth, and Hujsak cleared the bases with a bloop double in the sixth before hitting his second long ball of the game in the ninth, giving him six runs batted in on the evening. Switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje was sharp over seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts, and Tyson Hardin held the Gators (16-11, 6-3) scoreless over the final two innings.
Sunday’s 4-3 loss was following a similar script. Florida opened the scoring on a wild pitch in the third, but MSU tied it in the fifth on Chance’s RBI single. Mershon’s single in the sixth put the Bulldogs in front, and they added another on a bases-loaded walk to Aaron Downs. Karson Ligon was solid over the first 2 ⅔ innings on the mound, and Schuelke pitched well in relief before issuing a pair of free passes in the sixth, one of which came around to score.
Evan Siary got MSU through the seventh and eighth, preserving a 3-2 lead, but hit Ty Evans with a pitch to lead off the bottom of the ninth. That brought up two-way star Jac Caglianone, arguably the favorite to win the Golden Spikes Award for the best player in college baseball.
On a 1-2 pitch, Caglianone — also Florida’s starting pitcher Sunday — launched a rocket down the right-field line that stayed fair as it cleared the fence, giving the Gators another walk-off win.
The Bulldogs return to Dudy Noble Field for a non-conference game Tuesday evening against Central Arkansas, then host Georgia for a three-game weekend series starting Friday.
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