Coming off a series sweep by the hands of Georgia last weekend, Mississippi State lost its fourth straight SEC contest on Friday to visiting Tennessee, 6-5.
The Volunteers (22-12, 5-8 SEC) broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning with three runs to pull ahead for good as the Bulldogs (26-8, 7-6 SEC) cycled through three pitchers to replace starter Tomas Valincius and get out of a jam. Tyler Pitzer got the final out and sent the game to the ninth, but the damage had already been done. MSU attempted a rally in the bottom of the ninth and scored two runs on an RBI single by Noah Sullivan and a solo homer by Reed Stallman but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Both teams came into Game 1 of the three-game series looking for their first conference victory in more than a week, and early on the Vols looked like they had the magic. A ground-out RBI by Tennessee’s Reese Chapman and a solo shot by Henry Ford to left field in the third inning put the Bulldogs in an early bind, and Volunteer starting hurler Landon Mack kept MSU’s bats fairly quiet. By the fourth inning Mack had racked up five strikeouts and against only two hits and looked nigh unhittable until the Bulldogs managed to find a chink in his armor. Ace Reese singled to get on, and Noah Sullivan followed up with a double to him in scoring position. A fly out by Jacob Parker sent Reese home and created a crack in the Vols armor that carried over into the fifth. Reed Stallman and Kevin Milewski delivered back-to-back homers to knot the game at 3-3. The squads remained at a stalemate until the Vols took the lead in the eighth. The Bulldogs were outhit 11-9.
Valincius started the game and went six innings and gave up eight hits and three earned runs with six strikeouts. A total of five more pitchers saw action on the mound in his replacement and none could keep the Vols at bay.
In his return to the lineup Aiden Teel had two hits and scored a run, and Reese, Sullivan and Stallman all had two hits each.
Game 2 of the series begins at 6 p.m. Saturday.
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 34 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 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
