Hot offensive start, strong finish from Bulldog bullpen leads to 8-5 Saturday win for State
A massive early lead for Mississippi State began to fade midway through the game on Saturday but the Diamond Dawgs would put their foot down.
After blowing a lead late in the game on Friday night, State wouldn’t repeat it. Brooks Auger and Tyler Davis threw the final 4.0 innings and gave up just one run to stop an Arkansas rally and take game two of the series, 8-5.
The Bulldogs got out to an 8-0 lead in the fourth inning but things began to get hairy for State. Jurrangelo Cijntje surrendered four runs in the fourth and fifth innings that allowed the lead to close to 8-4. Auger gave up a run in the sixth but would come back with consecutive scoreless innings to slow down the home team.
Despite the big lead, it wasn’t Cijntje’s best game. The sophomore pitcher lasted 4.1 innings, gave up four hits, four runs, two earned runs, three walks and he struck out a batter.
Instead of starting on Sunday, Auger threw 3.0 innings on Saturday and helped State to the win. Auger gave up three hits, one run, one walk and struck out four batters. Tyler Davis threw the ninth to earn his third save of the year as he gave up a hit and struck out the final batter of the game.
For State on offense, it was a great start but a poor finish. The team scored all eight of its runs in the first four innings as Amani Larry hit a two-run home run in the first inning, Dakota Jordan and Logan Kohler also had long balls in the first four innings as State built the lead.
MSU didn’t score again after the fourth and finished the game with nine hits. The Bulldogs walked 10 times after walking nine times on Friday night. Jordan broke out of a little bit of a slump with his 3-for-4 night with three RBI, a double and a home run. David Mershon was 2-for-5 and Kohler finished 2-for-3 with two RBI.
The win for the Bulldogs was the 200th for Chris Lemonis at Mississippi State. He’s six back from where State legend Ron Polk was at this point in his career in Starkville. For State, it’s a big win as MSU gets to 33-17 on the year and 15-11 in SEC play to clinch at least a .500 record in SEC play.
The Bulldogs will try to get an all-important series win against the No. 5 Razorbacks on Sunday at 2 p.m on SEC Network.
