Mississippi State got a consecutive sweep, Southern Miss won its second straight conference series, and Ole Miss lost two of three to a top-five club to make for another weekend of college baseball.
Super Bulldog Weekend lived up to the hype in Starkville, as Brian O’Connor’s club capped a three-day extravaganza, which included the world’s largest wiener dog race, by taking it to baseball arch-rival LSU. No. 15 Mississippi State (34-10, 13-8 SEC) may have trailed in all three games, but the rally caps and raucous crowds at Dudy Noble Field were quite effective.
Kevin Milewski hit a walk-off home run to lift the maroon and white to a 10-8 extra-innings win Friday to set the tone for the rest of the weekend. On Saturday, Mississippi State turned a 7-3 deficit into a 9-8 victory before scoring eight unanswered runs to win the finale 13-8. The Bulldogs capitalized on LSU’s current pitching situation, as injuries have forced the reigning national champions to lean on unproven arms of late. It was the first time Mississippi State has swept LSU since 1985.
Bulldog slugger Ace Reese proved why he is one of the most feared batters in the country. The left-handed hitter homered in all three games, tallying three long balls on five hits, while adding six RBI to his weekend stat sheet. Freshman Jacob Parker swung the pendulum Saturday with a game-tying grand slam that aided in the Bulldogs’ ability to come from behind. He logged two hits and an RBI on Sunday.
Dane Burns (2-0) got the game-one win with two strikeouts in the top of the 11th to hold the Tigers scoreless. Fast-throwing freshman Jack Bauer (3-0) was stellar, logging a whopping eight strikeouts in 3.2 innings on Saturday while only surrendering three hits and an earned run. Peyton Fowler (1-0) got the win Sunday after forcing a flyout to end the top of the sixth. Ben Davis and Maddox Webb kept the Tigers scoreless to close it out.
Southern Miss followed up last weekend’s sweep with a road win against a bitter foe — South Alabama. The No. 18 Golden Eagles (31-13, 13-8 Sun Belt) traveled roughly 1.5 hours to Mobile and took two of three from the Jaguars. Christian Ostrander’s club squeaked out a 4-3 win Friday before mauling the home team 16-7 on Saturday. In Sunday’s finale, Southern Miss fell just shy of the sweep, losing 4-3.
Davis Gillespie had the golden bat for the visitors with five hits, two home runs, and six RBI across the three-game affair. His teammate, Tucker Stockman, was a mainstay on base with six total hits, a home run, and four RBI.
Josh Och (4-2) forced a flyout in the bottom of the sixth on Friday to keep the Jaguars from tying or getting ahead, earning the win. Colby Allen got the save, striking out three batters and only allowing one run in three innings. Kros Sivley (4-2) got the win on Saturday after cleaning up a mess created by starter Camden Clark, who gave up five runs in 1.1 innings. Sivley worked 3.2 scoreless frames. Och was tabbed with the loss on Sunday after surrendering two runs on two hits in the bottom of the eighth.
The good news for No. 17 Ole Miss is that the Rebels (31-14, 11-10 SEC) were not swept at home by a team with a Bulldog mascot twice this season. The bad news is that Mike Bianco’s club could not use the momentum of a game-one comeback win to steal the series versus No. 5 Georgia, the nation’s best hitting group.
Inclement weather in the Oxford area on Friday forced a Saturday doubleheader. In the opener, Ole Miss trailed 8-0, but a late rally and a stellar bullpen performance led to 10 unanswered runs and a 10-8 win. The Rebels attempted to rally late in game two, with a two-run jack by Will Furniss tying things in the bottom of the ninth, but the Bulldogs ultimately came out on top 9-7 in 14 innings. Though the pitching arsenal had been mostly exhausted on both sides, Georgia had more fuel in its stable and held the Rebels to just one run in a 5-1 victory to secure the series.
Dom Decker played to the “Double Decker” theme of Oxford in game one, hitting two crucial long balls that accounted for four runs in the win. Overall, Furniss and Brayden Randle were the best bats. Furniss had five hits, three home runs, and five RBI, while Randle logged five hits, a home run, and an RBI.
Landon Koenig (2-0) earned the game-one win after working a strikeout in two scoreless innings. He helped hold down the fort after ace Hunter Elliott uncharacteristically surrendered eight runs. Hudson Calhoun (3-3), though effective with seven strikeouts in four innings, took the loss Saturday after being tabbed with two earned runs in the top of the 14th. Taylor Rabe (3-3) held the Bulldogs to just two runs in the rubber match, but it was not enough, and he took the loss in the game.
Next up
Mississippi State and Ole Miss will face off in the Governor’s Cup at Trustmark Park on Tuesday night. Afterward, the Bulldogs will travel to Texas to face the No. 4 Longhorns over the weekend. The Rebels will head to Arkansas to play the No. 24 Razorbacks over the weekend.
Southern Miss will play at Tulane on Tuesday night, then host Louisiana-Monroe over the weekend.