Mississippi State’s Bryce Chance blasted a grand-slam in the first inning of Sunday’s finale and for a moment it looked as if the Bulldogs were well on their way to a statement SEC series victory on the road at Texas.
The No. 10 Bulldogs rallied from a narrow 3-1 loss to the No. 4 Longhorns in Game 1 with a decisive 7-4 win in Game 2 to set up Sunday’s Top-10 winner-take-all showdown. An RBI single by Jacob Parker put the Bulldogs on the board, and Chance followed up with his first homer of the season to suddenly give MSU all the momentum in the world – along with a 5-0 lead.
That all changed in the bottom of the third inning as the Longhorns rallied and tacked on nine runs to pull away for an 11-6 series-clinching victory.
Staring pitcher Charlie Foster walked the first three batters he faced and hit the fourth to get Texas on the board. MSU (36-12, 14-10) cycled through three different hurlers but none could slow down the Longhorns (35-10, 15-8) as Anthony Pack Jr. and Adrian Rodriguez each smacked two-run singles, Temo Becerra hit an RBI double, Casey Borba plated two with another double before Aiden Robbins capped off the inning with an RBI single to give Texas a sudden 9-5 lead.
Texas added another score in the fourth on Becerra’s second double of the game before State got across home plate one more time in the sixth inning via a groundout by Vytas Valincius. The Longhorns put the finishing touches on the series in the seventh with an RBI single by Robbins.
State was outhit 11-4 in Game 3 with Parker and Chance each posting two hits each. Eight different pitchers took the mound and combined for nine walks and 11 strikeouts. Texas’ starter Luke Harrison got the win as he worked five innings and fanned nine Bulldogs, allowing three hits and five earned runs.
MSU looks to bounce back in a homestand this week. The Bulldogs host Nicholls (25-22, 15-12 SLC) at 6 p.m. today in a non-conference midweek contest and begin their last SEC series of the year at Dudy Noble Field on Thursday against No. 5 Auburn (32-13-1, 11-8). Next week MSU wraps up its regular season at Texas A&M and will head to the SEC Tournament, which begins May 19.
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