BILOXI — Kellum Clark missed it by inches.
It wasn’t a home run the Mississippi State right fielder nearly powered out of MGM Park in Biloxi on Wednesday, but Clark still came up just short of a key hit for the Bulldogs.
MSU had cut two runs off a 5-2 Texas Tech lead in the bottom of the sixth when Clark hit a high-arcing bloop against the shift that plopped down just to the foul side of the left-field line.
On the next pitch, Clark grounded out to second base.
No. 23 Mississippi State (7-7) often seemed just that close to flipping the script in Wednesday’s 7-2 loss to No. 17 Texas Tech (11-3), but the Bulldogs couldn’t muster any big hits against the Red Raiders.
“I thought we hit the ball well today; they just didn’t fall for us,” outfielder Brad Cumbest said.
The Bulldogs totaled just three hits Wednesday, two of which came in the sixth as they scored their only runs of the evening against the Red Raiders. Freshman Hunter Hines had an RBI double for Mississippi State’s first hit, and Cumbest added an RBI single.
Von Seibert added a single in the eighth inning for MSU, but that was it just a day after an 11-run offensive showing. Hard-hit balls found Texas Tech gloves seemingly all afternoon: Cumbest had two of them — line drives to center field and second base — and shortstop Tanner Leggett was robbed of what would have been Mississippi State’s first hit on a liner caught on a dive by Tech third baseman Parker Kelly.
Kelly had the key hit for the Red Raiders with a second-inning grand slam off Jackson Fristoe.
Fristoe remained susceptible to the home-run ball and the free pass, walking two batters before Kelly hit his third grand slam in five days for Texas Tech. Two batters later, Dillon Carter took Fristoe deep to right for a solo shot.
The sophomore right-hander allowed four hits, walked three and struck out four in 3 2/3 innings of work. Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said Fristoe was “just OK” though not helped by a bloop single dumped into left field in front of a jogging Von Seibert.
“He’s still trying to figure it out,” Lemonis said. “We have these moments in the big innings where we walk a couple guys and then we throw the ball that they hit out. You’ve got to be better, and we’ve got to make plays behind him, too. I thought we could have made a play in that inning, also.”
Left-hander Cam Tullar, who came into the game with an ERA of 19.29 in 2 1/3 innings this season, left with that mark significantly reduced after throwing 3 1/3 scoreless frames Wednesday in relief of Fristoe. Tullar walked the first batter he faced to load the bases in the fourth inning but got out of the jam, then allowed just one hit the rest of the way.
“It was the bright spot of the day,” Lemonis said. “I thought Cam threw well, commanded the zone. He’s got plus stuff; he just hasn’t been able to command the zone. He was really good out there today.”
Mikey Tepper finished the game for Mississippi State, allowing a run in the eighth and ninth.
The Bulldogs seemed poised to cut into the deficit in the bottom of the eighth when Seibert singled with one out and got to second on an error, but State left him stranded on the bases. Cumbest smoked a liner to second, and Kellum Clark struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
It was just more proof of the Bulldogs’ offensive inconsistency, which continues to be an issue 14 games into the season.
“We play good, and we play bad,” Cumbest said. “We play good, and we play bad. I just think all around, we need to be better as a team.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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