STARKVILLE — Leave it to a trio of newcomers to deliver Mississippi State’s most impressive pitching performance of the young baseball season.
Junior-college transfer Graham Yntema allowed just one run over five innings, freshman Evan Siary tossed 3 1/3 scoreless frames, and Ball State transfer Nate Dohm closed things out in MSU’s 5-1 win Saturday against Arizona State at Dudy Noble Field.
The duo helped Mississippi State (4-3) rebound from an embarrassing 13-4 loss to the Sun Devils on Friday and even the series at a game apiece.
“I thought our kids did a great job of pushing that game away yesterday and coming out and playing well,” Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said. “Our guys that we threw out on the mound were really good tonight.”
After falling behind from the first batter one day prior, the Bulldogs played much better baseball in Game 2 of the series — Lemonis said Saturday was “by far” MSU’s best performance of the year.
They put together a four-run fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie, and it was enough to handle the Sun Devils in front of what Lemonis called an “amazing” crowd of 14,320 — the seventh-largest ever at Dudy Noble.
Shortstop Lane Forsythe delivered a tiebreaking two-run single into right center field, and Colton Ledbetter produced his second RBI hit in as many innings.
Amani Larry also had an RBI single for the Bulldogs in the big inning.
“Us being able to pack our inning in there and be able to put up a crooked number was huge,” Lemonis said. “We had a couple big hits in that inning.”
Ledbetter’s first run-scoring single tied the game at 1-all in the third. after ASU scored its lone run in the top of the second. Luke Hill grounded a ball into the hole that ricocheted off Forsythe’s glove and into the outfield, bringing home Ethan Long from second base.
It was the only run charged to Yntema’s line Saturday night as the former Lawson State (Alabama) Community College lefty was strong in his first MSU start. Yntema gave up just three hits, struck out six and did not walk a batter.
“I just wanted to give the team a good start, throw a lot of strikes,” Yntema said. “I knew that was something that could beat the other team. I watched a lot of their film and I knew a lot of the weaknesses that they had, so I just tried to go against those and help us out tonight.”
Siary, a South Carolina native who spent his senior year of high school at Starkville Academy, took over in the sixth and manned the mound until being removed with two on and one out in the ninth.
He allowed just two hits and two walks, striking out three.
“He’s not pitching like a freshman, for sure,” Lemonis said. “He’s just running out there with some composure. He’s going to get a whole lot more opportunities.”
Dohm struck out Hill and got Kien Vu to pop up to close out the game and seal the victory. Mississippi State completed its first errorless game of the season, a major point of emphasis for the Bulldogs coming in.
They’ll still aim to win consecutive games for the first time in 2023 when the rubber match of the three-game set begins at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“In 12 hours, we show right back up,” Lemonis said. “We haven’t played two days of back-to-back really good baseball yet.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
