Mississippi State 2 Texas 1: MSU's Bednar, Sims strike out 21, putting UT on the brink of elimination

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The Texas Longhorns, the highest remaining seed in the NCAA tournament, are on the brink of elimination following a 2-1 loss to Mississippi State in the College World Series. Longhorn hitters struck out 21 times against Bulldog starter Will Bednar and bullpen menace Landon Sims, only managing four hits against the SEC squad.

The effort at the plate was reminiscent of the first game of the 2021 season when Texas played MSU in Arlington. Texas at least could pin some of the blame for their 18 strikeouts in February on not being able to practice in the week prior to their season-opener. But it’s hard to explain away 21 strikeouts in Omaha. Texas was simply dominated.

“Tough night,” Texas head coach David Pierce said. “It’s a humbling game. And every player that has played this game for any length of time has gone through a tough game like that. Tough to see it happen to them on a big stage. But maybe some of our youth came out today and just tried to force some at-bats.”

The lone Longhorn run came as a result of a Mike Antico solo shot to lead off the ninth. The remainder of the final inning constituted Texas’ best threat against Sims. Ivan Melendez singled on the 11th pitch of his at bat when Texas was down to its last out. Cam Williams followed up with a single to center to put the tying run 90 feet away from the plate. However, Sims extinguished the threat by retiring Douglas Hodo III, sending Texas to the loser’s bracket.

Texas will face Tennessee in an elimination game Tuesday. Pierce announced Tristan Stevens will start.

In six innings of work, Bednar struck out 15 Longhorns and allowed one hit and one walk. He hit one batter and threw 65 of his 108 pitches for strikes. Sims, who entered the game with a miniscule WHIP of 0.84, kept the strikeout train rolling with six punchouts over three innings, earning the save.

“Bednar, still haven’t figured him out,” Pierce said. “He’s a spin-rate guy. And the ball just doesn’t lose plane. Just seemed like we were swinging underneath it the entire game. And then Sims is Sims.”

In the second, third, fifth, and seventh innings, all the Longhorn outs came by way of strikeout. Every Longhorn hitter had at least one K. Antico, Mitchell Daly, Zach Zubia, and Ivan Melendez struck out twice. Williams, Hodo III, Trey Faltine, and Silas Ardoin each had three strikeouts to their name and combined to go 1-for-16.

“If we strike out however many times and we strike them out however many times, at the end of the day it’s a 2-1 game,” Pierce said. “We didn’t get a clutch hit and they got one more than us.”

Texas starter Ty Madden took the loss following his 7.0-inning outing, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out 10. Pete Hansen pitched 2.0 innings in relief. He gave up one hit and struck out two of the seven batters he faced.

Mississippi State plated both their runs in the fourth inning. Scotty Dubrule brought in Kamren James with a one-out sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead.

One batter later, Brad Cumbest skied a ball down the right field line. Hodo III ran toward the corner but could not make a play on the ball that landed in fair territory. It rattled around the corner, and Cumbest motored to third base. His two-out triple scored Luke Hancock and gave Bednar and Sims all the run support they would need.

“I think everybody knows it was frustrating,” Madden said. “But on to the next day. And just take things one day at a time and one pitch at a time. And I still believe in this team. And I think everybody here does. We’re not done yet.”

Pierce does not typically address the team following the game, but he did pull his Longhorn team aside following the loss at TD Ameritrade Park. He told them he understands its an emotional game and they had one of the more frustrating nights of the season on the biggest stage. But he also explained they have to prepare for Tennessee on Tuesday.

“So my message is, you know, we’ll continue to go to battle with guys that are preparing right,” Pierce said. “And we’ve just got to get better tomorrow and that’s the game plan. Just don’t listen to the noise. We know what happened.”

Texas has shown plenty of resiliency throughout the entire season. They bounced back from a dismal opening weekend, went on a lengthy winning streak in April, won the Big 12 and made their way to Omaha.

They’ll face another tough SEC foe on Tuesday and will need to bring their best. They believe they’ll be able to do just that.

“Just keep believing in us,” Madden said. “We’ve done it all year. We’ve won in multiple ways. And, like I said, this team’s not done and we’re going to keep rolling. I still have faith in us. And you all should as well.”

They know the challenge ahead of them, and know they’ll need to be better in order to lengthen their trip to Nebraska. A passive approach will only result in their trip being shortened. Pierce made sure to warn against that postgame.

“Eight best teams in the country going head to head,” Pierce said. “And you need to create your breaks. And so if you don’t create your breaks, you’re going to potentially have the same result.”