Pitching and Patience Push Mississippi State Past Delaware

Mississippi State didn’t need anything dramatic Sunday. It just needed to do what’s it has done up to this point in the season: win.

The Bulldogs did that in a 7-3 win over Delaware wrapped up the weekend sweep and kept the Bulldogs unbeaten, but the bigger takeaway was just how steady the team has played through eight games. The big names are performing and the new names are starting to make their mark.

Delaware actually landed the first punch with two runs in the second, but Mississippi State didn’t blink.

The third inning was classic early‑season Mississippi State: take the free baserunners, string together a couple of clean swings, and let the lineup work its way into a good spot.

A James Nunnallee walk, singles from Chone James and Bryce Chance, and suddenly Ace Reese had an RBI opportunity he didn’t waste. Noah Sullivan followed with a bases‑loaded walk, and the game reset at 2-2.

From there, the Bulldogs simply waited for Delaware to crack. The Blue Hens committed four errors, and the Bulldogs turned two of them into runs in the fourth to take the lead for good. It wasn’t flashy, but it didn’t need to be. When a team gives you extra outs, you take them.

Mississippi State added on in the sixth with a Chance sacrifice fly and again in the eighth with two more runs, stretching the margin to a comfortable 7-2. Nine walks and a couple of stolen bases kept Delaware’s pitchers in the stretch most of the afternoon, and the Bulldogs’ lineup did enough with the traffic.

The pitching, though, is what really settled the game. Charlie Foster opened with two innings and five strikeouts before handing things to Duke Stone, who threw four shutout innings, six strikeouts, one hit allowed — nothing complicated, just a steady mix of strikes and confidence.

“Proud of Duke Stone, came in and did the job for his team and settled the game down a little bit and allowed us to take a lead,” Mississippi State coach Brian O’Connor said.

Maddox Webb and Ben Davis followed with clean frames, and Tyler Pitzer handled the final outs after Delaware scratched across a late run.

By the end of it, Delaware had struck out 15 times and stranded 11 runners. Mississippi State didn’t overpower the Blue Hens as much as it outlasted them, one arm after another.

“I really like our pitching staff. We've got to create some more depth. We need to get some more of these guys out there that don't have that much experience,” O’Connor said. “There's plenty of them that we have confidence in, and we just need to get a couple more guys some opportunities to really understand what we have.”

At 8-0, the Bulldogs have handled their long homestand the way a good team should. They’ll close it out Tuesday against Austin Peay, and then the schedule starts to get a little more real.

For now, though, they’re doing the simple things well and that’s usually enough in February.

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