Diamond Dawgs Squeak by Grambling With 2-1 Victory

The Bulldogs narrowly defeated Grambling in the team's second midweek contest of the season.

Mississippi State used a wide variety of batters and bested Grambling by a score of 2-1 in Tuesday night's midweek contest.

Right-handed freshman pitcher Jack Walker pitched five complete innings of play and struck out eight batters faced while giving up only one run, three hits and two walks. Brad Cumbest hit his third home run of the season and was 1-for-2 with one run and one RBI. True-freshman Aaron Downs went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Relief pitcher Parker Stinnett pitched the final four innings of play and gave up no runs on two hits while striking out eight. 

Walker and the Bulldogs' defense fielded a ground ball cleanly for the first out of the game. Walker followed that up with two swinging strikeouts to set the tone early. Grambling brought their own stud pitcher to the mound to start the game-- left-handed senior Jacoby Boudreaux. The first three batters for MSU's offense-- Drew McGowan, Kamren James, and Luke Hancock-- were unable to reach base, and the first inning passed very quickly. 

Walker struck out the first batter he faced in the second inning before giving up an outfield single that was lost in the sun and a line drive down the third-base line. Runners were on the corner with only one out. A wild pitch that bounced away from the plate gave the third-base runner the chance to run home and make the score 1-0. Walker recovered well from his handful of mistakes by recording a strikeout and flyout to escape the frame. Cumbest was able to pick up a walk to become the Bulldogs' first base runner with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, but a flyout by Aaron Downs ended the frame. 

The third inning started ominously for the Bulldogs, as Walker had a four-pitch walk to put a runner on base early. Hunter Hines tagged out a runner for the first out of the inning, and Hancock threw out an attempt to steal third. With two outs, Walker issued his second walk of the inning, but a groundout helped the Bulldogs get out of the inning without giving up any more runs. The bottom of the third inning started with a groundout and a flyout until McGowan appeared to be hit by a pitch. Upon review, it was ruled that he stuck his knee out to purposely get hit and was called out. 

Three consecutive strikeouts gave Mississippi State plenty of momentum in the fourth inning. If Walker was still feeling the pressure from a nail-biter third inning, he didn't show it. It was time for the offense to do some work and climb out of the 1-0 hole they were in. The first hit of the game finally came in the bottom of the fourth, as Logan Tanner had an outfield single with two outs. However, Hines struck out looking to end the frame quickly.

Walker had a three-pitch strikeout to yet again show his dominance on the mound. He followed this up with a flyout before giving up an infield single that was less than a second away from being a groundout. The next out did come on a groundout, and a solid part of MSU's batting order came to the plate in hopes of getting the offense going halfway through the game. Cumbest struck out swinging to start the frame, but things would improve from there. Downs got a single up the middle to put a runner on first with only one out. A single on the next at-bat by Slate Alford advanced Downs to third. Forsythe hit a sacrifice fly deep into the outfield to help the Bulldogs score their first run of the day and tie the game. Von Seibert was brought into the game as a pinch hitter for McGowan but ultimately struck out. Heading into the sixth inning, the Diamond Dawgs and Tigers were all knotted up with one run apiece.

Right-handed pitcher Parker Stinnett took to the mound in the sixth inning and instantly gave up two outfield singles to put runners on first and second with no outs. He picked up his first out of the game on a sacrifice bunt, but not before the runners could get in scoring position. Stinnett regained control with two strikeouts and refused to allow the visiting team to score on him. Hancock battled at the plate for a four-pitch walk, but that was the only baserunner of the inning for MSU. 

Second baseman RJ Yeager made the best defensive play of the game on a ground ball to record the first out of the seventh inning. Stinnett walked the next batter faced, but Hancock helped record the much-needed second out by tossing out a batter who attempted to bunt. Stinnett picked up another strikeout to keep the game tied. Cumbest got things going for the Diamond Dawgs in the bottom of the seventh with his third home run of the season. Downs followed this up with a no-out double, and Grambling brought Malik Abdul out from the bullpen. Yeager popped out on his first at-bat of the game as a pinch hitter, but with only one out, Downs was able to steal third. His efforts were fruitless as Forsythe and pinch hitter Matt Corder got out, but the Dawgs took a 2-1 lead heading into the eighth inning. 

Stinnett started the next frame with a three-pitch strikeout. Wasting no time, he struck out the next batter he faced and forced a groundout to get through the inning very easily. MSU fell victim to a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning, but with the lead, they only needed to hold on for one more inning defensively.

Heading into the top of the ninth, the Bulldogs simply needed three quick outs to secure the victory. Stinnett got the first out on a strikeout after a lengthy battle at the plate. His second and third outs both came quickly on strikeouts, and he played a huge role in securing his team's 2-1 victory. 

Mississippi State is now and will travel to Trustmark Park in Pearl tomorrow night to face off against in-state rival Southern Miss at 6 p.m.