The Bulldog Box Score and More: Early lead slips away from State as Vandy takes series

Trying to capture a road series win over No. 2 Vanderbilt on Sunday, No. 4 Mississippi State couldn't have gotten off to a much better start. The Bulldogs sent the whole lineup to the plate in the first inning, scored three runs and then tacked on another in the second.

But no matter how positive things may seem early on, baseball games are nine innings long. And MSU was quickly reminded of that the hard way as Vanderbilt roared back in the middle innings to capture a 7-4 win and take two out of the three games in this weekend's showdown.

"I think they beat us Friday night, we win (Saturday) and I just am frustrated with (Sunday's) game," State head coach Chris Lemonis said in his postgame interview on the MSU Radio Network. "We didn't come here to win just one game. We're close, but we're not the team we're going to be yet. We've got to play better."

For three innings on Sunday, Lemonis' club looked headed for victory. Luke Hancock had an RBI double in the first inning and Scotty Dubrule added a two-run single as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead and chased Vanderbilt starter Patrick Reilly from the game before he could even record two outs.

MSU added on with a Tanner Allen home run to straightaway center in the second and with Bulldog starting pitcher Jackson Fristoe dealing, State was rolling right along.

All the while though, there were missed MSU opportunities. Despite scoring three times in the first, the Bulldogs left the bases loaded. They'd again leave three men on in the third. Eventually, the missed chances caught up to State.

"I feel like if we could've kept a little momentum there in the middle of the game, we'd have been alright," Lemonis said.

Vanderbilt finally got to Fristoe in the fourth and started chipping into the MSU lead. Carter Young had a leadoff triple and Dominic Keegan drove Young home on a groundout to cut State's advantage to 4-1. The Commodores got another run back when MSU third baseman Kamren James' throwing error put Jack Bulger at second ahead of a C.J. Rodriguez RBI single.

Then came the fifth inning when the lead totally slipped away from the Bulldogs. Jayson Gonzalez had a one-out single and Enrique Bradfield worked a walk. With two men on, Young drove a Fristoe pitch deep over the right field wall. Vanderbilt suddenly was up 5-4 and the good MSU vibes from earlier were long gone.

"It seems like every guy we're walking is scoring," Lemonis said. "Or every guy we make an error on is scoring. You just can't give away freebies because they're going to put big hits behind it."

Vanderbilt added another clutch knock in the sixth to give itself some breathing room. With runners at second and third and two outs against MSU reliever Houston Harding, Bradfield singled to left to drive in two more Commodore runs.

The Bulldog bats then went hitless over the final three innings against Vanderbilt's top reliever, Nick Maldonado. As a result, MSU was forced to head back to Starkville with a disappointing series loss given it looked like things were trending in the opposite direction prior to Sunday's middle innings.

Mississippi State now turns its attention towards next weekend. The Bulldogs don't play in the upcoming midweek. MSU returns to action with a three-game series against Texas A&M starting on Friday at Dudy Noble Field.

Alright, let's take a look at Sunday's numbers, MSU MVPs and the Moment of the Game:

Mississippi State at Vanderbilt box score

MSU Offensive MVP: RF Tanner Allen

Allen had three of MSU's seven total hits on Sunday. He came up just a triple shy of the cycle as he continues to be State's most consistent offensive threat game in and game out.

"He was really good," Lemonis said of Allen. "He showed it all. He hits the homer, bunts for a hit and gets a base hit to center that ends up being a double because he's just playing as hard as he possibly can, which is really impressive."

MSU Pitching MVP: SP Jackson Fristoe

Parker Stinnett could probably make a really good case to be here in this spot with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts, but Fristoe was so good before things fell apart that he's deserving.

Fristoe's final line was certainly not all that impressive with five runs allowed (four earned) over 4.1 innings. But he started his Sunday with three no-hit innings, including four strikeouts.

Yes, it ended badly for Fristoe. But he once again showed that with just a little more seasoning, he may not be too far off from being among the SEC's best weekend arms.

"I thought he was really good," Lemonis said of Fristoe. "We don't play good enough defense behind him. That's what I spoke to the team about. We played two of the better teams in the country and you've got to be able to defend in those games. You can't give guys free stuff. Unfortunately, we had all the momentum and we give it back a little bit. A great team like (Vanderbilt), they take advantage of it."

Moment of the Game: Vandy flips the script

For as good as Fristoe was, there's no doubt which pitch of his was the most consequential. The Bulldogs were up 4-2. But when Vanderbilt's Young connected for his three-run homer in the fifth to put the Commodores in front 5-4, MSU never seemed to fully recover.

CARTER!!!#VandyBoys | @caddayung pic.twitter.com/Eb7hXWTFCh
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) April 25, 2021

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