Mississippi State put on quite the show for a fanbase eager to pack Dudy Noble Field to witness the club’s first home regional since the 2021 national championship season. The Bulldogs capped a dominant weekend with a 19-5 win over Louisiana on Sunday.
Brian O’Connor’s club held no punches in the Starkville Regional, outscoring foes 39-11 in three straight wins. The maroon and white were especially productive in the finale, tallying 20 total hits, highlighted by a ninth-inning grand slam by Vytas Valincius that had the home crowd in full party mode.
How it happened
The Bulldogs came hunting early and often, scoring eight runs in the first five innings. The home run ball was flying at will in that span, with Gehrig Frei, Ace Reese, Jacob Parker, and Ryder Woodson gifting sueviners to fans behind the outfield wall. Mississippi State, serving as the visiting team in the event of an “if-necessary” game on Monday, led 8-2 going into the sixth inning.
Louisiana (41-25) clawed back with a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth. That effort was almost instantly foiled by a five-run top of the seventh for Mississippi State, courtesy of four extra-base hits. The Bulldogs tacked on six more runs in their final two offensive frames to put the game completely out of reach with no fear of a drastic collapse.
Numbers never lie
Parker, with four hits, two home runs, and four RBI, and Frei, with four hits, a home run, and two RBI, led Mississippi State in the offensive beatdown. Woodson notably had three hits, two home runs, and four RBI, while Valincius had a whopping five RBI, which largely resulted from the late grand slam.
On the mound, star pitcher Ryan McPherson (4-1) had his best outing by far since getting injured earlier in the season. The right-hander fanned seven batters while only surrendering two runs on five hits in five complete innings. Freshman phenom Jack Bauer was responsible for most of Louisiana’s scoring. While the fast-throwing lefty had three strikeouts in 1.1 innings, he was also hit with three earned runs on the stat sheet.
Louisiana was led offensively by Ole Miss transfer Drew Markle and Noah Lewis. Markle had three hits, while Lewis had three hits and a long ball. Ragin’ Cajun pitcher Sawyer Pruitt (7-5) took the loss after giving up three earned runs in 1.1 innings.
Next up
Mississippi State will head east to face a familiar foe in No. 3 national seed Georgia this coming weekend. The Athens Super Regional will begin on Friday, with the maroon and white looking to play spoiler after having fallen to Wes Johnson’s club four times this year.