Diamond Dawgs Drop Nail-Biter to Tulane

Mississippi State baseball simply couldn't hold on in Sunday's close rubber match against Tulane and dropped the final game of the series 5-4.

Starting pitcher Cade Smith pitched 6.1 innings and gave up only four runs on eight hits with two batters walked and three strikeouts. Logan Tanner went 1-for-3 at the plate with a run scored, and Hunter Hines had a home run, one RBI and one run scored on 1-for-4 hitting. Brad Cumbest and Tanner Leggett each had an RBI.

The Green Wave were able to read Smith's pitches easily to start the game and jumped out to an early lead. They picked up their first run of the game in the first inning thanks to an RBI single, then added another in the second inning on a wild pitch. Tulane held on to their early 2-0 lead for the first half of the game.

No more runs were scored in the game until the top of the fifth inning, and that's when the Bulldogs struck first. A bases-loaded walk issued to Leggett brought Kellum Clark home for the first run of the game to cut the deficit in half. Shortly after MSU cut the score to 2-1, Tulane added another run thanks to Ethan Groff's second home run of the weekend.

Down 3-1, the Diamond Dawgs fought back hard. In the sixth inning, Hines hit a home run that probably took out a car windshield in the parking lot. A sacrifice RBI by Cumbest with two runners in scoring position brought Tanner home and tied the game at three apiece. Mississippi State finally took the 4-3 lead thanks to a hit by Hines that scored Leggett.

From there, it was a pitcher's duel. Brooks Auger was brought in to relieve Smith, but he made a crucial mistake in a critical moment. Auger balked with the bases loaded and two outs to tie the game at four. Tulane got the go-ahead run in the eighth inning against pitcher Drew Talley after a double drove in one run. The Bulldogs tried, but they couldn't do much of anything in the ninth inning to tie the game up.

Mississippi State now sits at 6-6 on the season and will face a talented Texas Tech team in a two-game midweek series this week. The first game is set to begin Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT at MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi.