STARKVILLE — For the Mississippi State baseball team, Saturday’s game against No. 6 Arkansas was a comedy of errors.
On two separate occasions, a pair of Bulldogs collided in the outfield attempting to make a play. First it was Colton Ledbetter and Dakota Jordan running into each other on a flyout to left field and a couple innings later, David Mershon and Amani Larry did the same thing.
By the end of the fourth inning MSU stared a 8-0 deficit in the face, eventually falling 14-2 in a seven-inning contest to the Razorbacks, who also won Friday night’s series opener.
A four-run second inning opened the game up for the Razorbacks (35-12, 16-7 SEC), who added three runs in the thirds and another in the first.
MSU starter Landon Gartman didn’t make it out of the second inning, allowing four walks and a hit-by-pitch in the frame. Gartman allowed four earned runs and struck out one batter in 1 2/3 innings of work.
Arkansas took a 7-0 lead in the third when two runs scored on Ledbetter’s and Jordan’s gaffe, while Mershon’s and Larry’s collision led to the Razorbacks’ eighth run in the fourth.
Brady Slavens added a ninth run on a home run in the sixth inning, Kendall Diggs chipped in a two-run homer in the seventh, followed by Caleb Cali’s three-run shot later in the inning.
MSU (24-22, 6-17 SEC) tallied just seven hits and scored on a two-run homer from Dakota Jordan in the bottom of the sixth to cut Arkansas’ lead to 9-2 at the time.
The two teams return to Dudy Noble Field for Sunday’s series finale with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. (SEC+).
Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.
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