STARKVILLE — Mississippi State has shown early on its a much improved offensive team this season.

The Bulldogs struggled to hit and score runs last season, something that led to a season that ended early with an overall record under .500. But in the early part of this season, that hasn’t been the case.

The No. 24 Bulldogs have scored 19 runs on 24 hits and beaten No. 11 Oregon 10-4 Friday night and 9-3 Saturday afternoon to clinch the series at Dudy Noble Field.

“We have some guys that can generate some bat speed,” MSU coach John Cohen said. “All those guys can generate some bat swing and really make it difficult for you to take a breath right through the middle of our lineup.”

In the Friday game, the Bulldogs (11-3-1) fell behind for the second time in as many games. MSU trailed South Alabama 3-0 Tuesday night, but scored seven unanswered runs to win 7-3. MSU fell behind Oregon (8-4) 2-0 as A.J. Balta hit a two-run home run in the first inning. But the Bulldogs rallied again with two runs in the third inning to tie things at 2 and then Brent Rooker gave the Bulldogs the lead for good in the sixth inning. The sophomore outfielder hit a solo home run to left centerfield to push MSU ahead 3-2.

“It’s an enormous compliment to our offense as well as our bench,” Rooker said. “Some teams, you get down and you get in a deficit and the bench kind of goes away, it kind of dies off. Our guys who aren’t in the game keep a great energy, keep it upbeat and keep everybody locked into the game. As a hitter it’s easy to hit when you’ve got 28 guys behind you, you know there’s a bunch of guys in the dugout that have got your back and they’re not quitting on you so you don’t want to quit on them. It makes it easier to battle back.”

In the two games this weekend, Rooker is 3-for-7 with three RBIs and two runs.

The Germantown, Tennessee, native gave the Bulldogs the lead against the Jaguars with a pinch hit two-run double.

Cody Brown delivered a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning of Friday’s game to give the Bulldogs a huge cushion heading into the ninth inning. Brown has not started this weekend but is 3-for-4 with four RBIs coming off the bench.

“It speaks for itself,” junior captain Jacob Robson said. “We’ve got a great offense, 1-9. We have a bunch of guys coming off the bench getting hits, which you can’t ask for anything more than that. It just shows what a tough group of individuals we are.”

Junior right-handed pitcher Dakota Hudson threw 5-2/3 innings Friday to move to 2-1 for the season. He ran into trouble in nearly every inning with five walks, but struck out nine.

But he never worried because of the offense that his behind him. He called his offense “resilient” and they have lived up to that for the most part.

“You can see it throughout the lineup though,” Hudson said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys grinding out ABs (at bats) and we’ve got guys that are just taking steps for us. I just feel like guys are coming in and they’re all ready to play.”

In Saturday’s game, the Bulldogs didn’t have to do much at the plate. MSU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to five walks and a hit by pitch by Duck starter Matt Krook and reliever Isaiah Carranza. All five runs were scored with two outs and came with the bases loaded with the free passes by the Oregon pitchers.

That made it easy on Bulldog starter Austin Sexton. The junior right-hander pitched six innings and allowed no runs on four hits. He walked four but struck out a career-high 12.

He said what the offense has done this weekend against one of the top pitching staffs in the country “speaks volumes.”

“Last year we struggled and that’s not a secret, but this year it’s completely different,” Sexton said. “Our hitters went off this summer and worked really hard. I think top to bottom, every guy that steps into that batter’s box you think are going to get a hit. It’s showing out on the field.”

As an offense, MSU has struck out eight times this weekend. That’s encouraging for Cohen because balls in play have put some pressure on Oregon. The Ducks have committed two errors this weekend, the first coming Friday night that led to MSU tying things up and beginning the comeback.

He said his team is really battling through at bats.

Rooker believes last year has prepared them offensively.

“It’s a maturity thing,” Rooker said. “I had a year of experience, you get Reid (Humphreys) another year of experience, Gavin (Collins), (Ryan) Gridley, all those guys. You look up and down our lineup, there’s threats the whole way to hit doubles and hit the ball really hard. Everybody’s got a good approach and we’re taking good swings right now.”

The Bulldogs go for the sweep 10:30 this morning (SEC Network+). Cohen has not announced a starting pitcher and the Ducks will throw sophomore left-hander David Peterson (2-0, 0.45 ERA).

MSU started last season 13-0, and swept through the first three weeks of the season. In a four-game set with Cincinnati and Miami (Ohio) last season, the Bulldogs beat the Bearcats three times, but before then the last three-game sweep came against Auburn in 2014.

It was tough for the Bulldogs to sweep last season because of the struggles of the offense. That’s not the case early on.

“I think our kids are pretty confident,” Cohen said. “You just have to understand the game. You’re going to swing it well sometimes and not get a ton of hits and sometimes you’re not going to swing it well and you’re going to get a ton of hits. You just have to keep battling through it.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.