The Bulldog Box Score and More: MSU falls in extras to South Carolina
A strong weekend had a sour ending for Mississippi State.
The No. 4 Bulldogs couldn't finish off a sweep of No. 19 South Carolina on Sunday as MSU fell to the Gamecocks 4-3 in 11 innings. State heads back to Starkville having won two out of three games in Columbia, but the Bulldogs were disappointed they weren't quite able to get them all.
"The reality is we're playing good baseball right now," State head coach Chris Lemonis said in his postgame interview on the MSU Radio Network. "Sometimes the game just doesn't play you the right way."
South Carolina trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth before rallying to tie the game and force extra innings. The Gamecocks then claimed the victory with David Mendham's walk-off RBI double in the 11th that scored Jeff Heinrich all the way from first base.
Mendham's hit put an exclamation point on a frustrating day for State, particularly offensively. The Bulldogs left 13 total runners on base and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. MSU was just 2-for-15 at the plate when runners were on base.
Still, the Bulldogs had a chance to win. After falling down 2-0 in the second inning when Mendham hit a two-run homer off of State starting pitching Jackson Fristoe, MSU scored three unanswered runs.
Kellum Clark tripled and scored on a Kamren James sacrifice fly in the third inning, then in the fifth, Tanner Allen tied the game with a long solo dinger to right.
Mississippi State climbed in front in the sixth inning. That's when Rowdey Jordan cranked a solo shot of his own down the right-field line. Suddenly, MSU led 3-2 and that score held until the Gamecocks rallied in the ninth to even things up ahead of Mendham's game-winning hit in the 11th.
It's not the ending the Bulldogs had in mind, but in the big picture, MSU still claimed a series win on the road over a quality opponent. It's hard for Mississippi State to be too worked up over one Sunday loss when so much continues to go right. The Bulldogs will try to keep things trending in a positive direction this week at Dudy Noble Field in a Tuesday night game against UT Martin and a three-game series against Missouri that begins on Thursday evening.
"Everything is big now," Lemonis said. "It's that time of year. Every game has a lot of implications to it. So we've got to get back, get a good night's rest and get ready to keep playing good baseball."
Photo courtesy of Mississippi State athletics
Alright, let's take a quick look at Sunday's stats, game MVPs and the Moment of the Game:
Mississippi State at South Carolina box score
MSU Offensive MVP: CF Rowdey Jordan
Jordan's sixth inning solo home run nearly was a game-winner if not for South Carolina's late heroics. It was Jordan's only hit of the day and it might get forgotten given the day's end result. But in the moment, it was huge for the Dogs and put them up 3-2.
MSU Pitching MVP: RP Stone Simmons
Simmons is quickly becoming a reliable piece out of the Bulldog bullpen that Lemonis isn't afraid to give high-leverage situations to. With 1.2 scoreless, hitless innings of work with four strikeouts to boot on Sunday, Simmons only strengthened his case. Simmons has now had scoreless outings in four of his last five appearances. In his last 7.2 innings, he's surrendered just three hits and two runs.
Moment of the Game: Gamecocks call game
The biggest swing of the day was the final one. Mendham stepped to the plate with the winning run on first in the 11th inning. Mendham then blasted a ball into the gap in left-centerfield and try as they might, the Bulldogs couldn't throw out Heinrich at the plate and the Gamecocks came out on top. Here's a look:
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