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Cowbell Corner

Don’t Blame the Pitching: Mississippi State’s Bats Cost Them the Series

Tomas Valincius delivered another strong start, but Mississippi State’s offense struggled in a 3-1 loss to Georgia to drop the series.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State pitcher Tomas Valincius winds up for a pitch against No. 5 Georgia at Dudy Noble Field.
Mississippi State pitcher Tomas Valincius winds up for a pitch against No. 5 Georgia at Dudy Noble Field. | Mississippi State Athletic

Inclement weather in the forecast pushed Saturday’s series finale between No. 4 Mississippi State and No. 5 Georgia to a 10 a.m. start.

Both teams did their part to make that quick turnaround manageable, playing a fast-moving game until the late innings and keeping it under four hours.

That won’t be much comfort for Mississippi State, which couldn’t take advantage of a strong outing from Tomas Valincius and dropped its second SEC series of the season in a 3-1 loss Friday night.

Here’s a breakdown of how it happened.

On the Mound

Both starting pitchers delivered quality outings, giving up one hit apiece through the first five innings and allowing only nine total base runners.

Georgia’s Dylan Vigue was responsible for most of them and was the first to exit after giving up his second hit and sixth walk in the sixth inning. His reliever, Paul Farley, managed to escape a bases‑loaded jam without allowing a run to keep the pitcher’s duel intact.

Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius looked every bit like a midseason All‑American. He allowed one hit through six innings and struck out nine. He worked through the seventh despite giving up a solo home run and a double.

He finished the seventh at 90 pitches, the same total as last week and well short of his season high, so leaving him in wasn’t unreasonable.

But sending him back out for the eighth pushed him into one of his highest pitch counts of the year, and that choice will be scrutinized. Mostly because the the first pitch of the inning left the yard.

His reliever, Ben Davis, did his job. He allowed one run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth and finished with two strikeouts and no walks.

No walks, 12 strikeouts. From a pitching standpoint, it’s hard to ask for much more other than a little help from the offense.

At the Plate

Two of the SEC’s best offenses just got shut down. Plain and simple. But completely shutting down a lineup is almost impossible, and Friday showed why.

Georgia managed only three hits off Valincius, and two of them left the yard. Mississippi State finished with five hits, and only one produced a run.

The Bulldogs had their chances. They left runners at third and second in the first inning, failed to cash in on a pair of leadoff walks in the third, stranded two more in the fifth, left the bases loaded in the sixth, left two more in the seventh and one in both the eighth and ninth.

By the end of the night, Mississippi State was 1-for-20 with runners on base, 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-1 with the bases loaded.

Don’t look toward the mound for why Mississippi State lost Friday night and the series. Look to the plate.

Pitching Decisions

  • WP: Paul FArley (3-0), 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 33 TP, 18 ST
  • LP: Tomas Valincius (6-1), 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 10 K, 1 HP, 95 TP, 67 ST
  • S: Scott (1), 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 31 TP, 21 ST

Mississippi State Batting Leaders

  • Noah Sullivan: 2-4, 1 BB
  • Reed Stallman: 1-5, 1 RBI, 2 K
  • Jacob Parker: 1-3, 1 BB

Next Up

As mentioned previously, Saturday’s series finale between the SEC’s two Bulldogs was moved up to 10 a.m. on SECN+. It matches the earliest start time this season for Mississippi State and the earliest for Georgia.

Mississippi State is scheduled to start right-hander Duke Stone (5-0, 3.66 ERA) on the mound for the finale. Georgia has not announced who its starter will be.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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