With the season on the line Sunday afternoon, Mississippi State delivered what it needed to against St. John’s.
The Diamond Dawgs put together the best offensive performance of the year and preserved the bullpen in a 13-5 victory over the Red Storm. A season-high 19 hits would power the team by and keep State alive in the Charlottesville Regional.
“We got a good start, we got a good relief from Cam and we were pretty offensive today which was nice to see,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “We need to have momentum for the rest of the weekend.”
The game couldn’t have worked out much better for the Bulldogs. Attempting to come back through the loser’s bracket and advance to a Super Regional, State needed a good offensive day and limited work from premium arms.
The result was the best offensive ball game of the season for the Bulldogs and only two arms spent for the day. Starter Brooks Auger threw the first 4.1 innings with six hits, two earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts. Cam Schuelke came in after the start and carried State the rest of the way with 4.2 innings of five-hit ball, one earned run, two walks and five strikeouts.
“Being mostly a closer from the beginning of the season and then getting some spot starts every once in a while, I try not to do too much,” Auger said. “Just go as long as they need me to do. Obviously, I didn’t have my best stuff today, but I kind of held St. John’s where they were and Schuelke came behind me and hold them even longer.”
While the pitching performance was far from perfect, it allowed State to have most of its bullpen available on Sunday night against host Virginia.
Even more important than the inning eaten up in the game was State’s offensive approach. After missing chances in the last three innings against Virginia on Saturday night, the Bulldogs came through on Sunday. MSU left two on the bags in the first inning but would break through in the third.
Six players had hits in the third with 10 batters coming to the plate in what was a four-run frame. MSU added two more runs in the fourth to make it a 6-0 start.
After the Bulldogs surrendered a couple of runs in back-to-back innings the lead tightened up to 6-4, but the offense came back alive. David Mershon hit a two-run home run in the sixth and Hunter Hines and Bryce Chance had RBI in the eighth that would make it a 10-4 game.
Dakota Jordan would leave no doubt in the ninth as he hit a tank of a home run to centerfield for three runs with two outs that made it 13-5. That homer traveled 463 feet and was a continuation of Jordan’s return at the plate.
Of the 19 hits, 13 of them came from the first four batters in the lineup. Amani Larry, Mershon, Jordan and Hines combined to go 13-of-20 with two home runs, 11 runs, nine RBI and three walks.
Jordan was 5-for-5 at the plate with four of those RBI and three home runs as he continues to swing the bat well after a struggling stretch at the plate. Jordan now has eight hits in three games at the Regional with two home runs.
Going 3-for-5 at the plate were Larry, Mershon and Chance with Mershon and Chance driving in two runs each. Hines finished with two hits and two RBI.
State (40-22) now plays another win or go home game at 5 p.m. CT as the Bulldogs have a rematch with Virginia. The Cavaliers won Saturday night’s game in walk-off fashion 5-4. The Bulldogs will throw LHP Pico Kohn.
“All hands are on deck. We’re going to use everybody tonight and figure out tomorrow, but you’ve got to do what’s smart too and take care of your guys,” Lemonis said. “That’s a very good offense, we know that, but we have some guys that we can still use.”
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