Mississippi State continued to struggle in the early portion of Southeastern Conference play, winning the series opener Friday night at No. 10 Oklahoma but losing tight games Saturday and Sunday.
Left-hander Pico Kohn’s outstanding start helped the Bulldogs win a 2-1 pitchers’ duel Friday. Saturday’s game could not have been more different, with MSU falling behind by seven after two innings, then rallying to briefly take the lead before falling 13-11. The Bulldogs could only score in one inning Sunday, with a three-run sixth giving the Sooners the lead for good in a 7-3 MSU loss.
“Tip your hat to them,” Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis said. “We just don’t pitch enough to minimize the inning, keep it a close game.”
Kohn can go toe to toe with any lineup in the SEC
MSU’s ace delivered perhaps his best start as a Bulldog on Friday, striking out 10 batters in six innings of two-hit shutout ball. The bullpen did its job as well, with Stone Simmons allowing an unearned run in the seventh before Luke Dotson worked two scoreless innings to earn the save.
Kohn had never lasted more than four innings in any outing until the NCAA regionals last year at Virginia. Now in the Friday starter role, he has pitched at least six innings in five straight starts and improved to 4-0 with a 2.52 ERA. He has 53 strikeouts and just seven walks in 35 ⅔ innings, holding opponents to a .148 average. For his performance against the Sooners, Kohn was named SEC Pitcher of the Week.
The Bulldogs manufactured a pair of runs, with Bryce Chance beating out an RBI infield single in the first inning and Dylan Cupp hitting a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
MSU starting catcher Ross Highfill was hit in the face with a pitch in the seventh and left the game. He was listed as a game-time decision on the injury report for Saturday and Sunday but did not play. Lemonis said after Friday’s game that Highfill remained in the dugout and avoided major damage.
“What a start by Pico. And the whole group. They’re competing,” Lemonis said. “They put their minds forward to playing good baseball, and that was a tough one. That was one of the best arms in the country (Oklahoma ace Kyson Witherspoon). He’s not losing many games this year. We were fortunate to get a couple.”
Defense lets Bulldogs down in two losses
MSU (15-9, 1-5 SEC) did not do starter Ben Davis any favors Saturday, making five errors in the first three innings. Oklahoma (20-3, 4-2) scored five runs in the first, two in the second and three in the third to put the Bulldogs in a big hole.
The visitors started digging out of it in the top of the third, when Ace Reese and Hunter Hines each hit a two-run home run. Reese added a three-run shot in the fourth, and Sawyer Reeves improbably tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth. MSU took the lead in the seventh on an RBI single by Noah Sullivan, but the bullpen could not hold it.
Easton Carmichael’s single retied the game in the bottom of the seventh before Dawson Willis hit a two-run homer off Nate Williams in the eighth for the decisive blow.
The Sooners stole four bases in the first two innings of Sunday’s game against the battery of Karson Ligon and Joe Powell, taking an early two-run lead. Reese stayed hot with a game-tying two-run double in the third, then scored on a Hines RBI single to put the Bulldogs in front. But that was the extent of MSU’s offense for the day.
Ligon was solid on the mound but was pulled after allowing back-to-back singles to start the sixth. Oklahoma scored three runs in that inning off Ligon and Jacob Pruitt, and Sooners closer Dylan Crooks, one of the best relievers in college baseball, shut things down for the save.
The Bulldogs come back home Tuesday for a midweek game against Samford, then travel to No. 8 LSU for a three-game series starting Thursday night.
“It stinks,” said outfielder Nolan Stevens, who had two hits and a walk Sunday. “We’re a lot better (of a team) than we’re playing, and there are a lot of games ahead of us to prove it.”
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