Mississippi State had already won one slugfest on Sunday, and another looked to be developing when Dakota Jordan answered an early Virginia run by launching a two-run home run to center field in the bottom of the opening inning.
But against Cavaliers pitcher Jay Woolfolk, who entered with an ERA of 6.85 and had not started a game since Mar. 17, the Bulldogs could do nothing after the big early blow. Left-hander Pico Kohn was outstanding for MSU, holding No. 12 Virginia to three runs over seven innings while striking out eight, but a two-run rally in the third gave the Cavaliers the lead for good.
Virginia broke the game wide open with six runs in the ninth and handed the Bulldogs a season-ending 9-2 defeat.
MSU (40-23) had plenty of scoring chances. Hunter Hines led off the fourth with a double down the right-field line, but a strikeout and two groundouts ended that threat. David Mershon singled and stole second to start the sixth, but after Jordan struck out, Woolfolk picked off Mershon at second base. In the eighth, Jordan overslid second base for the third out after initially having the bag stolen.
Things completely unraveled for the Bulldogs in the top of the ninth. Gavin Black retired all four batters he faced in relief, striking out three, before the Bulldogs turned to lefty Tyler Davis. A shutdown reliever almost the entire year, Davis did not have anywhere near his best stuff Sunday evening.
He issued back-to-back walks, then gave up two hits as the Cavaliers (44-15) extended their lead. With a steady rain falling, Davis threw wide to first after fielding a bunt, allowing two more runs to score. Virginia’s last two runs came home on wild pitches uncorked by Karson Ligon.
MSU finished its last game of the season 1-for-10 with runners on base — Jordan’s homer was the Bulldogs’ only hit with men on — and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The Cavaliers were 8-for-18 and 7-for-15, respectively, in those situations.
Takeaways
1. Offense is just fickle sometimes. Just a few hours after MSU pounded out a season-high 19 hits to keep its season alive against St. John’s, the Bulldogs were held in check by a spot starter. Woolfolk worked eight-plus innings, scattering eight hits and walking just one with seven strikeouts. He shaved seven tenths of a run off his season ERA.
MSU’s bats were up and down for the majority of the year — Jordan and Hines carried lengthy slumps into the postseason but were both strong in Charlottesville — and they went out not with a bang but a whimper.
2. Pico Kohn could be a part of the rotation next year. Kohn missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery and did not make his season debut until Mar. 19 against Memphis, but became the Bulldogs’ midweek starter down the stretch and worked his way into the weekend rotation by season’s end. Still, he had not worked more than four innings in a game until Sunday, when he held one of the best offenses in college baseball to three runs in seven innings. With Jurrangelo Cijntje and likely Khal Stephen off to pursue professional opportunities, Kohn may be in line for a rotation spot in 2025.
3. The program is moving in the right direction again. Head coach Chris Lemonis had a lot to prove coming into this season after the two disappointing campaigns that followed the 2021 national championship. Under new pitching coach Justin Parker, MSU’s pitching staff improved immensely, and while the fundamentals weren’t always there, the Bulldogs played good defense this year as well and returned to the NCAA Tournament. MSU will lose quite a bit of star power to both graduation and the MLB Draft, so the transfer portal is vital this summer, but the Bulldogs are in a much better spot heading into the offseason.
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