Mississippi State Baseball Throttles Tulane 19-2 in Game 1

Mississippi State's baseball team might have struggled some offensively earlier in the week, but that certainly wasn't the case against Tulane on Friday night for game one of the series.

The Diamond Dawgs easily defeated the Green Wave 19-2 to start the weekend series off with a victory. Starting pitcher Landon Sims struck out 10 of 11 batters faced in 3.2 innings before leaving the game with an apparent injury. Relief pitcher Brandon Smith got the win for the Bulldogs after striking out two and giving up only one run on three hits.

Designated hitter Hunter Hines went 2-for-5 at the plate with three RBIs, two runs scored and a home run. Kellum Clark, the team's right fielder, broke out of his slump and went 2-for-4 with one run, three RBIs and his first home run of the season. Luke Hancock scored three runs for the Bulldogs, and Brad Cumbest had two doubles

In the first inning, Sims did his part defensively by retiring the first three batters he faced on strikeouts. MSU struck first early in the second inning thanks to a single by Clark that scored Logan Tanner to make the score 1-0. The Diamond Dawgs plated another run in the third inning after a Von Seibert single drove home Hancock.

The fourth inning was when Mississippi State began to pull away. A fly out to center field by Kamren James scored RJ Yeager, and on the next play, Hines hit his three-run home run to score Hancock and Tanner Leggett. With the 6-0 lead less than halfway through the game, the Bulldogs had momentum on their side.

Sims left near the bottom of the fourth inning in discomfort. Although many initially feared that it could mean a season-ending injury, he was seen laughing with his teammates later in the game without any medical personnel attending to him. Smith was brought into the game as a relief pitcher.

By the end of the fifth inning, the game was out of reach for Tulane. It started when Yeager drove in Cumbest for the first-- but not last-- run of the inning. He scored on the next at-bat thanks to another base hit by Hancock. James scored Leggett on a sacrifice fly but picked up the second out of the inning. That didn't become an issue for the Bulldogs-- Tanner and Cumbest each drove in two RBIs easily. The last score of the inning came on a home run by Clark that scored both himself and Cumbest. The 15-0 lopsided lead by MSU had many home fans leaving the ballpark early

Tulane was finally able to strike at the bottom of the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly to make the score 15-1. Mississippi State quickly answered in the top of the seventh inning with a run driven in by Hancock and a bases-loaded walk issued to Meche. The Bulldogs had their largest lead of the night with a 17-1 advantage.

The Green Wave added their second and last run of the game in the eighth inning with a double into center field to cut the deficit to 16. Not to be outdone, the Diamond Dawgs had to get the last laugh. In the top of the ninth, Meche scored a run on a wild pitch and Lane Forsythe scored thanks to a Slate Alford hit.

Mississippi State has the 1-0 series advantage heading into the final two games of action. The Bulldogs will face off against Tulane again on Saturday at 2 p.m. in New Orleans.