A Freshman Pitcher Dominates for Mississippi State Baseball in their SEC Opener
STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State Bulldogs dominated the second-ranked LSU Tigers in their SEC opener 10-4. After a tough week in Biloxi, it would be interesting to see how the Bulldogs would respond, and they responded pretty well.
Mississippi State was without its Friday night starter, Nate Dohm, who went down with an injury last week. Dohm had been a workhorse for MSU on Friday, so the odds were stacked against sophomore Evan Siary, who drew the start.
Siary pitched well, given the circumstances, pitching three innings and allowing three earned runs. The Bulldog bats came alive, and LSU starter Luke Holman entered the game, having not allowed a run and only eight hits.
However, that did not matter to MSU as Holman exited in the fifth inning after allowing ten hits and five runs. Hunter Hines had a big game for MSU, the star junior had been in a slump, but tonight the Houston, Mississippi native broke out in a big way with two home runs and four RBIs.
MSU head coach Chris Lemonis was pleased with the offensive performance.
“The plan was to take the fastball away,” Lemonis said. “I thought our guys did a great job.”
The star of the night was freshman Nolan Stevens, who relieved Siary in the fourth inning. Stevens pitched well beyond his year and showed remarkable poise in front of his electric crowd against the number two team in the country.
The California native threw 5.2 innings and struck out eight while allowing a run. The biggest play of his outing came in the eighth inning as the two-way player defended his position well and turned a 1-4-3 double to end the Tiger threat.
“Nolan Stevens just solved every problem with that performance,” Lemonis said.
Stevens showed a lot of emotion coming off the mound, and the freshman could be the missing piece of the Bulldog bullpen. With Dohm out, Stevens could find his way into the rotation. As the freshman exited the mound in the ninth inning, he left to a standing ovation.
“It was great,” Stevens said. “Can’t get too high or low… we gotta wake up tomorrow.. and get a win.”
This was a tremendous win for MSU, and the crowd at Dudy Noble Field was electric. Mississippi State will be back in action tomorrow at 4 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
