STARKVILLE — The hits kept coming, the line kept moving, and things looked quite a bit more familiar Sunday at Dudy Noble Field.

Rendered almost unrecognizable in the season’s first two days, the Mississippi State baseball team seemed to be back to its old self in a 12-4 win over No. 24 Long Beach State.

The Bulldogs (1-2) pounded the Dirtbags (2-1) into submission thanks to a seven-run fifth inning, striking for six hits and sending 11 batters to the plate.

“We had to get one today,” coach Chris Lemonis said. “I felt like that was a big one.”

It was a needed breakout for an MSU offense that scuffled in two straight losses to start the 2022 season — just one hit in Friday’s shutout defeat and poor hitting with runners on base Saturday.

Mississippi State finished with 16 hits, including at least one for players at all nine spots in the lineup. (Backup right fielder Drew McGowan had two hits, including a two-run single, in place of Kellum Clark, who went 0 for 2 and was pulled after the fourth inning.)

And the Bulldogs managed their beatdown with only two extra-base hits. Center fielder Matt Corder had the first, hitting a two-run home run to open the scoring in the second inning. The Hinds Community College transfer’s tape-measure blast traveled 428 feet, sailing over the Left Field Lounge and exiting the stadium entirely.

“I did not expect it to go that far,” Corder said.

Tanner Leggett also had a two-run shot for the Bulldogs in the sixth inning to make it a 12-0 game.

After Corder’s home run, Logan Tanner added a run in the third on his third RBI groundout to shortstop in two games, putting Mississippi State ahead 3-0.

But it was the fifth inning when the Bulldogs’ bats finally came alive. The first eight batters reached for MSU, including two separate stretches of three singles in a row. All three Long Beach State relievers who pitched in the inning allowed at least one hit as the Bulldogs’ offense sprang to life.

“It was good just to have some separation — to play and not feel like everything’s so tight,” Lemonis said. “It felt good to see some of our guys have big swings.”

That outburst might not have mattered if Mississippi State pitched like it did Saturday, when the Dirtbags tattooed the baseball to the tune of 13 runs on 14 hits. But starter Cade Smith and Co. shut down LBSU’s offense Sunday as the Bulldogs staved off a season-opening sweep.

Smith struck out six batters over 5.2 clean innings, allowing just one hit and one walk and throwing just 68 pitches.

“I thought he was great,” Lemonis said.

Smith was charged with a run when the Dirtbags’ Jonathon Long laced reliever Brandon Smith’s first pitch into the gap in right center field for an RBI double.

Still, he fared better than Saturday starter KC Hunt, who allowed five runs in three-plus innings in the loss. With Landon Sims’ seven-inning, 13-strikeout performance Friday, Mississippi State found success in two of its three weekend rotation spots in the opening series.

But Smith insisted he hasn’t solidified a place in the rotation just yet.

“I would definitely say I had a dominant start today,” Smith said. “I would never say that it’s earned because it’s earned day by day, especially in this program. I know we have six guys still battling, and you’ve got to show up every day to compete to keep your spot.”

The Bulldogs’ bullpen remained a bit inconsistent, with Brandon Smith charged with two runs on four hits in 1.1 innings. Hinds transfer Brooks Auger had two strikeouts in a scoreless eighth inning, but Mikey Tepper allowed a run in the ninth.

Still it made little difference thanks to a fifth inning reminiscent of the potent lineup that helped Mississippi State win last season’s national championship. Freshman Hunter Hines drove in the first two runs of the frame with a single up the middle after the Bulldogs loaded the bases with nobody out.

Corder added an infield single, and Brad Cumbest plated another run with a single through the left side. McGowan ripped a ball into right to bring home two more runs before Kamren James, up for the second time in the inning, scored Cumbest on a sac fly.

“If we can jump on them like that and just put up a good inning like that, we’ll usually coast throughout the game from there,” Corder said.

With a 10-2 lead, Mississippi State did just that. Long Beach State added four runs in the final four innings, but with Leggett’s sixth-inning blast, the Dirtbags hardly made a dent in the lead.

Instead, the Bulldogs pulled out the third game of the series and avoided a season-opening sweep.
Mississippi State will host Arkansas–Pine Bluff on Tuesday. Game time is to be announced with severe weather on the way, but Lemonis said the Bulldogs will do their best to get their first midweek game of the season in.

Sophomore Jackson Fristoe or freshman Pico Kohn will likely start for MSU, Lemonis said. Both pitchers might have appeared Sunday before Mississippi State’s seven-run fifth changed everything.

“We were going to use them today in a close game, but when it got blown open, we let all the relievers go and let those guys go out there and get some innings,” Lemonis said.

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.