Mississippi State pitchers struck out 20 batters against Troy on Tuesday. The Bulldogs banged out 13 hits, five for extra bases, and had a runner reach scoring position in every inning but two.
And yet, all those ingredients did not add up to a victory. No. 18 MSU stranded 14 baserunners, while the No. 21 Trojans hit three home runs, including a tie-breaking solo shot in the ninth, to defeat the Bulldogs 6-5 at Dudy Noble Field.
“We had so many opportunities to score,” MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. “I don’t mind if you don’t score. I’d like to score, but you have to compete, put balls in play hard. We’re having our worst at-bats when (runners) are out there.”
Jacob Pruitt made his first start of the year for the Bulldogs (6-2) and was sharp through four innings, striking out nine without issuing a walk. The only hit he allowed was a second-inning homer to Shane Lewis, who redshirted as a true freshman at MSU in 2021.
Lewis homered again in the fifth off JT Schnoor to kick-start a big inning for Troy (7-1), with a series of walks and singles scoring three more runs to put the Bulldogs in a five-run hole. But the hosts dug most of the way out of it in their half of the fifth.
Dylan Cupp led off with an infield single, Gehrig Frei was hit by a pitch and Ross Highfill singled to left. With one out, Noah Sullivan hit an opposite-field drive that just stayed fair inside the right field foul pole for a grand slam, his first home run with MSU, to make it a 5-4 game. Frei doubled in the sixth for his second of three hits on the day, and Ace Reese’s RBI single up the middle scored him with the tying run.
“I just got a good pitch in a 3-1 count and did damage,” Sullivan said. “We put really good at-bats together. We’re a really good offense.”
Gavin Black, Evan Siary and Ben Davis kept the Trojans scoreless after the big fifth inning, and the Bulldogs had a golden opportunity to take control of the game in the eighth. Frei singled, Highfill was hit by a pitch and Reese walked to load the bases with one out. But lefty reliever Grady Gorden got Sullivan to chase a breaking ball down for a strikeout, and then struck out Hunter Hines looking on a knee-buckling curveball.
Hines finished 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, leaving nine runners on base by himself.
“He has to get out of his head a little bit,” Lemonis said. “He was up there in a lot of big opportunities, and it’s tough. We need a hit in that spot. I’m going to have to take a look at my lineup and figure out some things.”
Steven Meier delivered the decisive blow in the top of the ninth against Davis. In the bottom of the inning, Reed Stallman doubled with one out, and Aaron Downs walked, putting the tying and winning runs on base. Cupp’s fly ball to deep right narrowly missed being a walk-off homer, instead dying on the warning track for the second out. Lukas Buckner, who had replaced Frei defensively earlier in the inning, grounded out softly to second base to end the game.
The Bulldogs leave the state of Mississippi for the first time this weekend, heading to the Astros Foundation College Classic at Daikin Park in Houston. MSU will play Rice on Friday, Arizona on Saturday and Oklahoma State on Sunday.
“Dylan Cupp gave us a great at-bat in the ninth. The ball just hangs up,” Lemonis said. “We have too many (at-bats) where we’re trying to pull or we’re hooking balls behind us or we’re swinging and missing. We just have too much where we’re not on the ball. We have to be better.”
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