The Bulldog Box Score: MSU sweeps away Eastern Michigan

Mississippi State wins sixth game in a row

One day after a dramatic walk-off win, Mississippi State decided to put its runs on the board a little earlier and negate the need for any late heroics.

The No. 3 Bulldogs won 4-1 over Eastern Michigan on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep. It was the same score as MSU won by on Saturday, but this time – with all four State runs scored over the first three innings of play – there was no need for any Bulldog blood pressures to go up.

"They’re always trying to (get the offense going) early, we just haven’t always had success in doing it," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. "I don’t think there is a lack of intent, it’s just the way the game is played. We talked about trying to get one (run) and then stack ones on top of each other early in the game – especially with the way we pitch. That’s kind of been our mentality. We got a couple early (Sunday) and were able to relax and play, knowing who we had on the mound. Those guys pitched really well."

Scotty Dubrule's three-run double in the second inning and Logan Tanner's solo home run in the third provided plenty of offense to support MSU starting pitcher Jackson Fristoe and relievers Will Bednar and Landon Sims. The only run Eastern Michigan mustered all day came on a solo homer from designated hitter Mark Kattula off of Fristoe in the top of the third.

The Eagles managed only four hits all afternoon against State pitching. Three of those hits came against Fristoe, who went the first four innings. The youngster was again strong for State, albeit not quite as sharp as he was a week prior when throwing six perfect innings against Kent State.

"I thought he was just OK (on Sunday)," Lemonis said of Fristoe. "He’s been pretty electric the first couple of starts, but I thought this one was not his best. But he still pitched good enough to give us a chance to win. I think that’s a big piece. As a young pitcher, handling this week to week, being able to stay focused and razor-sharp is not easy. I think he’s learning a lot about being a college pitcher. I know he’s pitched more than he did for his high school team last year and we’re starting to add some innings on to him. He’ll be a big piece (going forward)."

Bednar handled the fifth-through-eighth innings for MSU and looked electric (More on Bednar below). Sims struck out the side in order in the ninth to lock down MSU's sixth win in a row. The Bulldogs improved to 13-3 overall.

Now, let's take a look at the numbers from Sunday, as well as Cowbell Corner's Game MVPs and the Moment of the Game:

Eastern Michigan at Mississippi State box score

Offensive MVP: 2B Scotty Dubrule

With a pair of hits on Sunday including the game's biggest one, Scotty Dubrule is a pretty easy choice as the offensive star of the day for the Bulldogs. His bases-loaded double in the second inning put MSU up 3-0 and put State in position to cruise for the rest of Sunday's action.

The only other real candidate here is Logan Tanner, who followed up his Saturday walk-off homer with another long ball on Sunday. The dinger ended up just being an insurance run, but over the long haul, it might prove to be another sign that Tanner's power is starting to get unlocked.

Pitching MVP: RP Will Bednar

Will Bednar continues to work his way back after missing the season's first couple of weeks with what Chris Lemonis has said was a neck ailment. Bednar was of course supposed to be a part of MSU's weekend starting rotation mix, but given the late start to his year, has had to try to build his pitch count back up. After four splendid innings of relief on Sunday, it looks like Bednar is almost fully back.

Bednar struck out seven over four scoreless innings. The only blemishes against him came as he allowed only one hit and hit a batter with a pitch. Lemonis stated afterwards that Bednar will almost certainly factor into the pitching plans in next weekend's Southeastern Conference-opening series at LSU.

"We kind of wanted about 60 pitches and three innings and I think he gave us four innings and about 50 pitches (on Sunday)," Lemonis said. "He looked good. He had both pitches for strikes. (Velocity) was where it needed to be. We’ll evaluate. We feel good just having all those weapons available for the weekend. You could see a lot of split-starts like you saw (Sunday)." 

Moment of the Game: Replay reversal sparks rally

A decisive factor in Sunday's game wasn't something that happened on the field, but instead a decision that occurred in the replay room. 

It was the second inning of a scoreless game when MSU's Lane Forsythe came up with runners at first and second and one out. Forsythe tapped the ball back to Eastern Michigan pitcher Luke McGuire. McGuire threw down to second base to try and record the force out there and the call on the field said McGuire was successful. 

However, a replay review overturned that decision and instead of MSU having runners on the corners with two outs, State had the bases loaded with one out. That set up Scotty Dubrule's three-run double to the left-centerfield gap that put the Bulldogs up 3-0. They were in command the rest of the day.

Perhaps Dubrule and MSU could've taken control of things eventually anyway. But there's little doubt the second-inning replay reversal helped fuel State's game-changing early rally.

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