Mississippi State records comeback victory, tops Virginia 6-5 in College World Series
Things looked dismal for Mississippi State baseball until the eighth inning of the team's matchup with Virginia.
At that point, the Bulldogs risked becoming just the third team ever to be no-hit in the history of the College World Series.
Mississippi State has none other than Tanner Allen to thank for getting the momentum going, down by four runs before the SEC Player of the Year hit a three-run homer at the top of the eighth.
Virginia pitcher Griff McGarry seemed well on his way to allowing the Cavaliers to shut the Bulldogs out, but the Omadawgs had some late-game magic up their sleeves.
A pair of home runs, a two-run shot from freshman Kellum Clark and Tanner Allen, well, being Tanner Allen made all the difference -- as did Landon Sims getting his 12th save -- the last in the eighth and three in the ninth.
The Bulldogs scored a total of six times in the eighth, ultimately securing a 6-5 win, despite the Cavaliers threatening a comeback in the ninth.
Down 6-4, Virginia cut the deficit to one run with a Chris Newell homer to make it. But Sims retired the final four batters to stave off the Cavaliers.
Mississippi State's pitchers were put to the test Tuesday, with Bulldogs starter Christian MacLeod retired after just 1.1 innings of work.
Zack Gelof led off the bottom of the first inning with a single, sacrificed to second base ahead of a Kyle Teel RBI single up the middle. Virginia stranded two batters in scoring position, staying hot into the second inning.
Jake Gelof opened with a walk, sacrificed to second before Newell, Zack Gelof, and Max Cotier delivered RBI hits. Virginia put together a 4-0 lead that saw MacLeod retire and held until Mississippi State came surging to life in the eighth.
Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis was pleased with his team's effort, also praising the team that looked certain to down his own for the better part of the contest.
"I was telling some of the guys you're going to look up in a couple of years and see all those guys pitching in the big leagues," Lemonis told reporters. "Just some special arms, special competitors on both sides. Their guy was phenomenal tonight. I was proud of Will Bednar and Landon Sims, the way they pitched. And you gotta tip your hat to Scott Foxhall, our pitching coach. I kept telling him before the game when we saw the wind, I said the best thing to do is just strike them out and he was able to do that. I really did make that comment. But he was -- our pitchers were phenomenal tonight."
The Bulldogs (47-16) will look to continue their winning ways on Friday at 6 p.m. CT against either Virginia (36-26) or Texas. That matchup will be televised on ESPN.
Mississippi State will have two shots at making the College World Series from there.