Skip to main content
Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State Survives Late Texas Rally to Force Rubber Match

Duke Stone gave Mississippi State five strong innings before the Bulldogs’ offense broke through late against Texas.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State freshman Jacob Parker celebrates his game-tying grand slam home run against LSU at Dudy Noble Field.
Mississippi State freshman Jacob Parker celebrates his game-tying grand slam home run against LSU at Dudy Noble Field. | Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State spent most of Saturday walking a tightrope in Austin, dodging traffic inning after inning while trying to figure out Texas’ pitching. It wasn’t pretty, but once the Bulldogs finally cracked the Longhorns’ bullpen, everything shifted.

On the Mound

Most of Saturday’s game felt like another pitcher’s duel between two of the SEC’s better staffs.

Duke Stone gave up one run on five hits in five innings, and Roger Rojas matched him with one run on three hits. They combined for 12 strikeouts and only one walk.

The duel ended once Stone and Rojas left the game. Or at least it did for Texas. Ben Davis, Jack Bauer and Maddox Webb allowed only two hits through the next three innings. More importantly, they held the Longhorns to one run despite Texas loading the bases in each of those innings.

Bauer escaped bases‑loaded jams in the sixth and seventh. Webb did the same in the eighth. That was dicey enough, but the Longhorns made things even more dicey in the ninth inning.

Texas loaded the bases again after Adrian Rodriguez led off with a home run, followed by a single and a walk that ended Webb’s night. Dane Burns walked the first batter he faced, struck out the next, then gave up a two‑run single to Aiden Robbins that cut the lead and brought the tying run to the plate. Burns hit the next batter to load the bases again before ending the game with a strikeout.

Texas finished 1‑for‑6 with the bases loaded and left 17 runners stranded.

At the Plate

Both sides started quiet at the plate. The only early scoring came on a pair of solo home runs, one from Mississippi State’s Jacob Parker and one from Texas’ Casey Borba.

Once the Bulldogs got into the Longhorns’ bullpen, though, the game flipped.

Mississippi State put up four runs in the seventh, capped by Drew Wyers’ three‑run homer that pushed the Bulldogs ahead 5-1. Parker added an RBI groundout in the eighth and Bryce Chance followed with an RBI double to stretch the lead to 7-1.

From the moment Rojas exited, Mississippi State controlled the game. Six of their nine hits came in the final four innings, and eight of their RBIs came with two outs.

The Bulldogs finished with six two‑out RBIs, went 4‑for‑12 with runners on base and 3‑for‑8 with runners in scoring position. That’s a strong day against a Texas pitching staff that’s as deep and talented as any in the SEC.

Mississippi State Batting Leaders

  • Drew Wyers: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR
  • Jacob Parker: 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 1 K
  • Bryce Chance: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B
  • Ace Reese: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 3 K

Next Up

The Bulldogs and Longhorns will meet for a series-determining rubber match Sunday in Austin. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will air on ESPN.

Mississippi State is slated to start left-hander Charlie Foster (0-2, 5.67 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) in the series finale and Texas will send out another lefty, Luke Harrison (4-2, 3.93 ERA, 1.33 WHIP).

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
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.

Home/Baseball