Diamond Dawg bullpen shuts down Memphis Tigers in 6-4 midweek victory
A strong relief effort from Cam Schuelke carried Mississippi State on Tuesday night in Memphis.
With the State offense going quiet after a good start, Schuelke came in and stopped the Tigers in their tracks. The best night of his career along with a big hit in the eighth inning from freshman Ethan Pulliam allowed the Diamond Dawgs to take a road win, 6-4.
Schuelke (2-2) threw a career-high 4.0 innings, gave up just one hit, no runs, no walks and he struck out a career-high seven batters. Tyler Davis came in for the ninth inning and closed things down with a three-up-three down inning earning his first save of the season.
Between Schuelke and Davis, the Bulldogs retired 12 of the final 13 batters with nine strikeouts. It was rocky prior to their arrival, however, as Pico Kohn started the game and lasted 2.0 innings giving up three hits, two runs, a walk and three strikeouts. Evan Siary gave up two hits in 1.1 innings with a walk and strikeout and Colby Holcome recorded just two outs with two hits, two runs and a walk.
At the plate, State got out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and broke a 2-2 tie in the third when Dakota Jordan hit a three-run home run. His 16th homer of the year gave the Bulldogs a 5-2 lead.
State wouldn’t score again until the eighth frame when Pulliam hit one over the first base that turned into an RBI double and the 6-4 lead that would hold.
The Bulldogs had nine hits in the game but the offense had its sputtering moments. David Mershon finished 3-for-5 with a double, Jordan was 2-for-5 with four RBI and Pulliam finished 2-for-3 with an RBI double. Since taking over in the starting lineup at second base the last five games, the freshman from Starkville is 7-of-15 with three two-hit games.
The win moved State to 27-14 on the season and the Bulldogs are traveling to Vanderbilt this weekend to try to keep the five-game winning streak alive. State starts the three-game series at 6 p.m. on Friday at Hawkins Field with Saturday’s game at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s first pitch at 1 p.m.
