STARKVILLE — Dudy Noble Field looked for every reason to erupt Saturday.
Batter after batter, inning after inning, the officially announced 6,152-person crowd that looked closer to 10,000 at a glance willed No. 3 Mississippi State (17-6, 2-3 SEC) through its matinee meeting with No. 2 Arkansas (18-3, 4-1).
For brief moments, it was pandemonium. At final pitch, the near-capacity crowd fell deathly silent as the Bulldogs were slugged into submission 11-5, marking their first series loss since dropping two of three at Long Beach State last season.
“I’m going to be honest with you man, it’s embarrassing getting beat at home,” fourth-year junior Tanner Allen said. “We have such a great fan base. We have such a great program. We take pride in winning at home and so far that hasn’t happened, but the weekend’s not over.”
Entering the three-game set, MSU had allowed 12 home runs in 188 innings. Saturday, it was a quartet of long balls and sloppy fielding that sank the Bulldogs.
Saturday starter Will Bednar rang up 10 batters in his five innings of work. The six runs he surrendered, though, were more a product of the fielding behind him than his stuff off the bump.
Tracking a lined ball straight at him in center field, fourth-year junior Rowdey Jordan flubbed what would’ve been an inning-ending line out. Instead, it gave Arkansas its first run and the breath of life it needed after falling behind 4-1 via the Bulldogs’ three-run first inning.
One-plus inning after Jordan’s blunder in the third, a blooped pop-up off Brady Slavens’ bat found grass when shortstop Lane Forsythe, third baseman Kamren James and left fielder Brayland Skinner failed to call each other off.
Rather than stride off the mound with a 4-2 lead, Bednar then saw his 2-1 offering to Christian Franklin obliterated off the second deck of rigs in left-center field for a go-ahead three-run shot.
Bednar strode off the mound with dissatisfaction riddling his face after striking out Casey Opitz to close the frame. Reaching the dugout, he smacked hands with the teammates standing on the top step with a force born out of irritation.
“The errors were awful,” MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. “I thought (Bednar) pitched really good. He throws one pitch to Franklin he shouldn’t with first base open but that’s after we missed the fly ball…They had no momentum until we gave them something both times.”
Following Bednar’s frustrating five innings, normally effective reliever Brandon Smith was barreled up by an Arkansas lineup that failed to find gaps early. Four times he surrendered a hit. Twice the ball left the yard.
Cullen Smith struck first, carrying Smith’s fourth pitch of the afternoon over the left field fence. Two batters later, Matt Goodheart, who homered off Christian MacLeod Friday, smashed Smith’s 1-1 pitch to center field for a two-run homer, pushing the Razorbacks’ lead to three.
“Brandon’s a sinker ball pitcher and he was up today,” Lemonis said of why Arkansas caught up to Smith Saturday. “I don’t know what happened there, but he’s been really good for us all year. He’s a really good pitcher, but the ball was up today and they made us pay for it.”
A 75-minute rain delay upon seventh-year senior Carlisle Koestler’s entry slowed Arkansas’ roll, albeit briefly. The Razorbacks added three more runs courtesy of a seventh inning sac fly and a pair of fielder’s choices en route to their first series win at MSU since 2012.
Wet, worn and demoralized, the previously raucous Bulldog crowd departed Dudy Noble Field in droves. Some left during the rain delay. Those that stayed wished they hadn’t.
On an afternoon that started sunny, shifted to rain and concluded cloudy, MSU was outhit and out-pitched for the second time in as many days. Heading into Sunday, the Bulldogs sit on the precipice of being swept by the visiting Razorbacks for the second consecutive season and the first time in Starkville since 2010.
Lemonis said postgame Game 3 will be MSU’s most important game to date. Allen doubled down.
“We (got) punched in the face at home,” Allen said. “To be honest with you, we’ve been getting told how great we were and I almost feel like sometimes some of our guys, we just roll up to the field (like) we’re going to win. No, not in this league. You’ve got to bring it every single day. Anybody can beat anybody. We’ve got some learning to do, but big day tomorrow. We’re ready for it.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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