Gators' comeback blows Mississippi State away in sixth inning

Bulldogs start strong before watching it all slip away in opener to SEC series

Mississippi State Bulldogs pitcher Pico Kohn winds up to deliver a pitch against the Florida Gators at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Miss. | Mississippi State Athletics Photo

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Everything was rolling along smoothly for Mississippi State in the series opener against Florida.

Then it blew up in the sixth inning on Friday night at Dudy Noble Field.

The Gators scored six in the sixth, then added a couple of runs in the seventh and eighth inning for a 13-3 win.

The Bulldogs had a 3-1 lead after four and Florida Started the comeback.

Gehrig Frei had a leadoff home run in the first inning for State and Pico Kohn had five solid innings of work before Florida got to the Bulldog bullpen for seven runs in the sixth inning to take control.

Joe Powell had an RBI on a fielder's choice and Reed Stallman cranked his seventh homer of the season to push the Diamond Dawgs ahead into the middle innings but MSU couldn't hold on.

Stallman finished the night 3-for-4 at the plate. Frei and Ace Reese had a pair of hits each, with Reese chipping in with a double.

Kohn drew his 10th start of the season on the mound. He tied his single-game career high with 11 strikeouts over his five frames. Chase Hungate and Kevin Mannell combined for three innings and struck out three. Stone Simmons suffered the loss for MSU.

On Deck: The weekend series against the Gators continues on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. Junior right-hander Evan Siary (0-1, 3.91 ERA) will start on the mound for the Diamond Dawgs while Florida counters with freshman righty Aidan King (4-1, 2.68 ERA).

GAME NOTES FROM MISSISSIPPI STATE ATHLETICS:

• All three of Frei's home runs this season have led off the first inning.

• Kohn punched out 11 to tie his single-game career high.

• The crowd of 11,925 fans marked MSU's third-highest total at Dudy Noble Field this season.

SCORING SUMMARY:

Bottom 1st
Frei hit a solo home run to right field.
MSU 1, Florida 0

Top 2nd
Brody Donay hit a solo home run.
MSU 1, Florida 1

Bottom 2nd
Bryce Chance scored on a fielder's choice to shortstop from Powell.
MSU 2, Florida 1

Bottom 4th
Stallman hit a solo home run to left field.
MSU 3, Florida 1

Top 5th
Colby Shelton scored on a wild pitch.
MSU 3, Florida 2

Top 6th
Donay scored off a double from Hayden Yost. Yost scored off a single by Justin Nadeau. Ashton Wilson scored on a double from Bobby Boser. Colby Shelton plated Nadeau with a double. Luke Heyman hit a three-run home run to plate Shelton and Boser.
MSU 3, Florida 9

Top 7th
Wilson scored off a fielder's choice. Boser scored off a sacrifice fly from Brendan Lawson.
MSU 3, Florida 11

Top 8th
Donay hit a two-run home run that plated Blake Cyr.
MSU 3, Florida 13

Information from Mississippi State Athletics is included in this story.