The Bulldog Box Score: MSU arms, bats way too much for Grambling State

Mississippi State has out-scored its opposition 23-0 the last two games combined

It was at the tail end of last Saturday's loss to Kent State that a pair of Mississippi State veterans had a quick chat. The Bulldogs were on their way to suffering a troubling defeat. MSU's pitching staff struggled. The Bulldog bats were silenced for much of that day. Right fielder Tanner Allen had seen enough. He consulted with fellow team leader, relief pitcher Riley Self.

"It was right there towards the end of the game when we were getting beat pretty bad and I (told Self), 'Man, me and you have been here a really long time,'" Allen recalled. "(I said), 'You handle the pitchers. I'll handle the hitters.' And honestly, the last two games, we haven't looked back."

Allen is exactly right. The last two games have been dominant showings for No. 3 Mississippi State with the second of those affairs coming on Tuesday as the Bulldogs rolled to a 10-0 win over Grambling State. 

Combined with Sunday's no-hitter against Kent State, MSU has now out-scored its opposition 23-0 over the last 18 innings of action. Bulldog pitching has allowed a grand total of zero runs and only two hits over the same span. It has been complete domination.

Granted, Tuesday night's win did come against a Grambling State team that is now 0-8 for the season. However MSU (9-3) did to the Tigers what top teams should do to lesser competition. The Bulldogs cruised.

Eight different MSU pitchers contributed to shutting out the Tigers, led by Will Bednar who started his first game of the year (more on that below) and struck out five over two innings. 

At the plate, the Bulldogs tallied 11 total hits. Tanner Allen drove in four runs with two of them coming on a two-run homer in a five-run fifth inning that essentially put the game away. Eight different MSU players had at least one hit with left fielder Brad Cumbest chipping in a three-hit night.

In all, it was another sign that this MSU team might be ironing out some of its early-season kinks. The Bulldogs will try and keep rolling on Wednesday night when they play host to Louisiana Lafayette at 6 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field.

Before then though, let's take a quick look back at the stats, Cowbell Corner MVPs and more from Tuesday. Note that you can watch Tanner Allen's full postgame press conference with the video at the top of this page. You can watch Will Bednar's below and you can see head coach Chris Lemonis' by CLICKING HERE. OK, on to the details:

Grambling State at Mississippi State box score

Offensive MVP: RF Tanner Allen

You couldn't go wrong with a few different selections here including Brad Cumbest with his three hits or Rowdey Jordan with his three RBI. But Tanner Allen drove in 40 percent of State's runs with his four-RBI night so he gets the nod here.

And he gets bonus points too for his aforementioned talk with Self back on Saturday that apparently helped get the Bulldogs clicking. Again, MSU's offense has now tallied 23 runs over the last two games. It appears the Bulldog bats have finally come to life and Allen is leading the way both verbally and by example on the field.

"In the fall and in spring training, man, we faced these arms that are some of the best in the country and we barreled them up all day long," Allen said. "And I felt like we were up there Saturday and before then some swinging not to fail instead of being aggressive. And that's been the difference the last two games at the plate for us."

Pitching MVP: SP Will Bednar

Will Bednar was welcomed rudely back to a starting role when Grambling State began the game with a leadoff double. No worries. After a caught stealing for the first out, Bednar struck out the next five batters he faced and set the tone for a huge night for MSU's pitching staff. 

"(Tuesday) was a really big night getting eight (pitchers) out there and all eight came out there and they were really crisp," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. "I mean we didn't work ourselves into a jam or anything all night."

But it was perhaps Bednar's performance that was most promising of all as he works his way back to a more prominent role on MSU's pitching staff. He started the year pegged to be a weekend starter for the Bulldogs. However Bednar suffered from what Lemonis called a neck ailment back on opening weekend and wasn't seen on the mound until a relief appearance last Friday. He threw an inning then, and then the two on Tuesday as he tries to get himself fully back. 

Lemonis said postgame there have been no decisions made yet on when or if Bednar will get reinserted back into a weekend starting role. In the meantime, Bednar is just glad to be back in action.

"I really wasn't happy with how I was feeling (after missing opening weekend)," Bednar said. "As time went on, I was able to get on a good throwing program and get into a good groove and feeling better and progressing. I'm happy with the progress right now."

For more from Bednar, here's his full postgame press conference:

Moment of the Game: The TA Show

In a 10-0 game, it's tough to find one game-changing moment, so how about we go with Tanner Allen's all-around game. Outside of his four RBI and two-run homer that put State in complete control, he also had a splendid diving catch in the sixth inning as he ranged to his right and dove into right-centerfield. He then apparently had some humorous words for centerfielder Rowdey Jordan too.

"We always joke with each other at practice about invading each other's territory," Allen said of himself and Jordan. "But he always stays out of mine and it seems like I always find my way into his."

Making plays like Tuesday's, Jordan is likely just fine with Allen coming on over.

Top 10 Tanner#SCtop10 | @Tanner_Allen10 pic.twitter.com/uRQckxsz1C

— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) March 10, 2021

Other items of note

• For a second straight game, Kamren James started at third and Lane Forsythe started at shortstop for MSU. It's of course a change from earlier in the season when James was playing short, usually alongside Landon Jordan at third. But with James struggling defensively at short, Lemonis has switched things up. It remains to be seen if it's a permanent fix.
"We’ve gone through a couple of days to see," Lemonis said. "We had some struggles at short. Lane is a very good shortstop. We have other really good shortstops too. And (Landon Jordan) has played well at third. I don’t want to say it’s a good problem to have. It’s not good when you’ve got some (good) players sitting next to you on the bench, trying to figure out a way to get them all in. We’ve played really well the last two days with that mix."

• Mississippi State got essentially its whole team into the game on Tuesday night. One notable absence though was highly-touted freshman Kellum Clark and his potent bat saw no action. After the game, Lemonis revealed why.
"He’s got a medical issue right now, that’s why you haven’t seen him in the last week or so," Lemonis said. "He’s working on it and should be back soon. He’s got a chance to be a superstar-type player. He’s a hard worker. He had a good fall and a good spring for us. He’s been out about a week."

Thank you for coming to Cowbell Corner for coverage of Mississippi State sports. Be sure to follow Cowbell Corner on Twitter (@SIBulldogs) by clicking here, and like it on Facebook by clicking here.