The Bulldog Box Score and More: Bednar outduels Leiter as MSU evens series

State sets up a Sunday rubber match against Vanderbilt

For weeks now, Vanderbilt pitcher Jack Leiter has been capturing the attention of Major League Baseball scouts and fans alike as he's dazzled from the mound for the Commodores. He's been without a doubt one of the country's top hurlers, perhaps even the very best of them all. On Saturday night though, he wasn't even the best in his own ballpark.

Mississippi State's Will Bednar outdueled Leiter and the No. 4 Bulldogs evened up this weekend's three-game series with a 7-4 win over No. 2 Vanderbilt. MSU got to Leiter for a pair of first inning runs and the Bulldogs led the rest of the night.

"We're fired up," State head coach Chris Lemonis said on his postgame radio interview on the MSU Radio Network. "To come in and beat Jack Leiter, who is arguably the best or one of the best pitchers in the country, it's a big win for our club."

The Bulldogs got to Leiter right from the jump. Rowdey Jordan led off the game with a home run to right-center. Later in the first inning, Luke Hancock added an RBI single. Just like that, it was 2-0 State.

Almost as important of a figure as the runs was Leiter's pitch count. He threw nearly 30 pitches in the first inning and tossed 49 through two frames. It was obvious early on that Leiter likely wasn't going to have the chance to go deep into the ballgame.

"It was big," Lemonis said of making Leiter work. "That was part of our plan. That's one thing that we do with our two-strike approach and everything else. (Leiter's) last two games, he kind of had some early exits just getting pitch count up. We felt like that's something we had to do, too, and I thought our guys did a great job."

With Leiter near the end of his rope in what proved to be his final inning of work, he allowed a two-run home run to MSU catcher Logan Tanner in the fifth. That put State up 4-1. And while Tanner ultimately became the game's offensive hero for the Bulldogs with three hits and three runs driven in, it was his batterymate, Bednar, that was perhaps the star of the night as he outperformed his more widely-known mound counterpart.

Bednar was a bit shaky in the first as he walked the leadoff man and eventually allowed him to come around and score on a sacrifice fly. But after that, Bednar locked down the Commodores. He allowed only three hits over five-plus innings and he struck out eight. Leiter entered the night, deservedly, with all the hype. But it was Bednar that stole the show and put his club on a path towards victory.

Lemonis removed Bednar in the sixth after Vanderbilt put the first two batters of the frame aboard, but MSU's bullpen proved to be up to the challenge of picking up where Bednar left off. Preston Johnson entered first and got the Bulldogs out of trouble in the sixth. Things did get a bit shaky for Johnson and MSU an inning later though. 

After State staged a three-run rally in the top half of the seventh to go up 7-1, the Commodores threatened to get right back in the game in the home half. Vanderbilt got a pair of runners aboard against Johnson and with one out, MSU turned things over to top reliever Landon Sims to try and shut down Vanderbilt's hopes. However Sims wasn't sharp. He allowed a couple of inherited runners to score and one of his own, and suddenly, it was just a three-run game.

That's as close as it'd get though. By the time Sims returned to the mound in the eighth, he was his usual, spectacular self. Sims was perfect over the final two innings, striking out four.

It cemented a win over the seemingly-invincible Leiter, and more importantly, gives MSU a chance for a road series victory over the country's second-ranked team. The two teams battle in the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m. central.

"We're coming out to compete (Sunday)," Lemonis said. "That's all that matters. I'm just proud of the way we bounced back (on Saturday). It was a tough loss (on Friday). There's a lot on the line and our kids came out and competed which is our number one quality."

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

Mississippi State at Vanderbilt box score

MSU Offensive MVP: C Logan Tanner

Tanner's bat took away any hope Vanderbilt might've had to come back on Saturday. His two-run homer in the fifth gave the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead, then his RBI double in the seventh was instrumental as part of a three-run rally that blew the game wide open.

Tanner finished the night with three of State's 10 hits. He drove in three total runs and scored twice. Tanner was an absolute force at the plate.

"He had some big hits," Lemonis said of Tanner. "He had the home run. That's what we weren't able to do (on Friday) was expand the lead. He hit that home run and then a big double down the line during the rally."

MSU Pitching MVP: SP Will Bednar

The best pitcher on this evening wasn't named Leiter. Bednar was outstanding. In five innings, he allowed just three hits, three walks and one run while striking out eight Commodores. He left with a 4-1 lead and went on to earn his third win of the year.

"Really good start," Lemonis said of Bednar. "I was pleased for him. He kind of fought through a little bit in the first inning and got out of it and I thought he really settled in and pitched well for us."

Moment of the Game: Tanner's Tater

Mississippi State was clinging to just a slim, one-run lead in the top of the fifth inning when Tanner stepped to the plate with two outs and a man on first. One big swing against Leiter changed all that. Tanner took a mighty hack and drove a two-run shot over the left-field wall. It stretched a 2-1 MSU advantage to 4-1. And Tanner enjoyed every moment of his big knock, too. Have a look:

BOOM 👋 @19LoTan pic.twitter.com/6pKlKrPxnE

— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) April 25, 2021

Tanner's big fly gave the Bulldogs breathing room. They'd add on to their advantage with a three-run seventh inning as well, but Tanner's tater in the fifth sure felt like the biggest blow towards Vanderbilt's chances to come back in this one and it put MSU well on its way to evening up this weekend's series.

Notes

– Mississippi State is without one of its top bullpen arms this weekend. According to Robbie Faulk of 247Sports, Lemonis noted postgame that reliever Brandon Smith is not with the team. Lemonis said Smith is back home studying, but elaborated no further on the situation.

Brandon Smith is not with the team this weekend, Chris Lemonis confirmed.

"He's back home studying."

— Robbie Faulk (@robbiefaulkOn3) April 25, 2021

– MSU handed Leiter his first-ever loss on Saturday. Prior to Saturday, Leiter was 9-0 in his career dating back to last season. 

State also increased Leiter's season earned run average by nearly a full run. Leiter entered Saturday's game with a 0.98 ERA and it rose to 1.93 by the time he left the game against the Bulldogs.

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