A Great Start and Timely Hitting Lead the Way for Mississippi State Baseball

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State Bulldogs get off to a good start on the weekend with a 12-2 win over Mount St. Mary. The Bulldogs are in must-win mode and got another great start from their ace.

Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis was pleased with the start.

“It was really good. He was pretty vibrant for coming back a day short from last week,” Lemonis said.

Nate Dohm pitched well for the second straight week as he threw seven innings, struck out eight, and only allowed a run. Dohm worked primarily out of the bullpen a season ago and now looks like he could be a dominant weekend starter for MSU.

Dohm worked quickly, throwing only 78 pitches, and mixed his pitches well, but he did most of his damage with his mid-90s fastball. Mountaineer batters could never catch up to the heater and only threatened Dohm once in the fourth inning.

“I feel like most weeks I can get that work in and the ability to kind of work on my changeup this week and get it better,” Dohm said.

The Bulldog offense also played well, as they did all their scoring in three innings. MSU quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, thanks to a two-run single by Hunter Hines, who finished the day with three RBI.

The top of the Bulldog lineup was the catalyst today, as Amani Larry and David Mershon were on base a combined eight times. Mershon had three hits on the day and made his return to the field as he started at second base.

Mershon has been a great addition to the MSU lineup after missing their first six games due to a preseason injury. Another good sign for the Bulldogs was the productivity of the bottom of the lineup.

“There's some really good players in there. And they've been able to play the game a little bit,” Lemonis said.

Nolan Stevens got the start today for MSU in right field, and the freshman got a pair of hits; then Connor Hujsak replaced him in the bottom of the sixth and took over in center field. Hujsak picked up where Stevens left off as he got a couple of hits and drove in a pair of runs.

Mississippi State is back in action tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network+, and Khal Stephen looks to bounce back after a rough start last week.

Mississippi State Dominates Mount St. Mary 12-2