There were many points over the last two months when Mississippi State’s season looked left for dead.
The Bulldogs were on the wrong end of sweeps against Texas and LSU in March and were still sitting on just one Southeastern Conference win after losing the series opener at home to South Carolina. After briefly gathering itself, MSU’s pitching collapsed in series losses to Florida and Auburn, and with the Bulldogs’ postseason hopes fading, athletic director Zac Selmon pulled the plug on head coach Chris Lemonis with three weeks left in the regular season.
Now, MSU will head to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium as a virtual lock to make the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs climbed all the way back to .500 in SEC play after putting up 50 runs in a three-game sweep at Missouri, and are entering the SEC Tournament winners of nine out of 10 games since Justin Parker took over as interim head coach.
“Our focus was so narrow-minded here over the last month or so,” Parker said. “Just trying to put together good at-bats, making great pitches, playing fundamental defense, and to put it all together and continue to answer every challenge, we’re back in the hunt.”
Lineup firing on all cylinders
MSU (34-20, 15-15 SEC) did not stop scoring after hitting eight home runs and putting up 25 runs in Thursday evening’s series opener. The Bulldogs raced out to an eight-run lead by the second inning Friday en route to a 13-3, seven-inning victory. Joe Powell hit a three-run blast to cap a five-run first, and Bryce Chance hit a two-run shot in the second.
After Missouri got on the board with two runs in the third, Ace Reese led off the fourth with his 20th homer of the year. Hunter Hines then made history in the sixth, with his three-run shot putting him ahead of Rafael Palmeiro atop MSU’s all-time home run leaderboard with 68.
“We have great players,” Parker said. “The guys were incredibly well-prepared, certainly this weekend offensively. You get them out there playing with confidence, that’s the beauty of this game. As confident as you can be, success, sometimes it’s contagious.”
Hines got the scoring started in Saturday’s 12-1 victory, adding to his home run total with a two-run blast in the first that kick-started a six-run inning. Noah Sullivan joined the party with a two-run homer in the second to make it an 8-0 game, and Reese hit his 21st of the season in the fourth. The Bulldogs added three more runs in the sixth to again put the run rule into effect.
In conference play, Reese finished the regular season first in the SEC in batting average (.402), slugging (.869), runs scored (39), hits (49) and home runs (15). He was second in doubles (12) and RBI (37) and should be in the running for SEC Player of the Year.
“The guy is lava-hot right now,” Reese said. “He’s acting in the box like a pro, taking what he’s given, taking walks, trusting the guys before him and behind him. Just really fun to watch.”
Back end of rotation is coming along
Evan Siary may not have replicated his eight shutout innings and 15 strikeouts against Ole Miss, but he did strike out six in just 3 ⅔ innings Friday night. He gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks, and Missouri (16-38, 3-27) started to see him well the second time through the lineup. Ben Davis was excellent in 3 ⅓ innings of relief, allowing just one hit and one walk with five strikeouts.
Karson Ligon was excellent Saturday in five innings and just 70 pitches, giving one run on three hits and striking out seven without issuing a walk. Ryan McPherson pitched a scoreless sixth, and freshman Charlie Foster made his first appearance since Mar. 16 with a scoreless seventh.
If Siary and Ligon can remain reliable, and the offense stays hot, MSU has a formula to get through a regional and upset a national seed. The Bulldogs are the No. 11 seed in the SEC Tournament and will face No. 14 seed Texas A&M in the first round on Tuesday night.
The winner of that game will play No. 6 seed Auburn on Wednesday night, with the winner there facing No. 3 seed LSU in a quarterfinal on Friday.
“You want to protect the kids a little bit, especially the difficulty and challenges of this league and certain environments and certain ballparks,” Parker said. “You want to protect those kids, put them in right spots, have them feel good about themselves, get them in and out. That’s the challenge.”
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 35 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 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
