On a beautiful day for baseball at Hawkins Field, Mississippi State bounced back from a game one loss after a 7-4 victory to even the series. Hunter Hines was the catalyst for the Bulldogs, finishing 3-4 with 5 RBI, including a huge three-run home run. Meanwhile, the Commodores were carried by Alan Espinal’s three-run shot in the sixth. As a whole, there just wasn’t enough offense from the home team today.
Hunter Hines opened the scoring with a solo home run off of Carter Holton in the second. Then, in the fourth, Hines tacked on another run for the Bulldogs after an RBI double. The sixth inning featured another Hunter Hines moment. He torched a three-run home run to right field off of Holton, extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 5-0 in the sixth.
Brennan Seiber replaced Carter Holton, who finished that inning with three straight outs, including two strikeouts. Holton was not the problem today, he pitched five innings, gave up six hits, five runs, striking out five, and only walking two batters.
The sixth inning ended up being positive for both teams. After RJ Austin and Davis Diaz got on base, Alan Espinal launched a three-run home run over the monster off of Cam Schuelke. That’s all the Commodores added in the sixth but cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 5-3 headed into the seventh.
Matthew Polk led off the seventh with a hustle double followed by a bloop single into left field from Cam Kozeal. Unfortunately for the home crowd, Jonathan Vastine grounded into an inning-ending double play, keeping the score at 5-3 in favor of Mississippi State.
RJ Austin led off the eighth with a single, stole second, and advanced to third on an errant throw from Bulldogs catcher Johnny Long. With Austin at third, Davis Diaz came through with an infield single up the middle, cutting the Mississippi State lead to 5-4.
After Alan Espinal walked, Jayden Davis stepped to the plate expecting to lay down a bunt to advance the runners. Unfortunately, he couldn’t lay the bunt down, but even worse, he couldn’t finish the at-bat. Tyson Hardin’s 92-mph fastball hit Davis square in the face, forcing him to leave the game. His replacement, Calvin Hewett, flew out to shallow centerfield with an 0-2 count. To end the inning, Troy LaNeve flew out to left field, and Matthew Polk struck out swinging.
In the ninth, Mississippi State was able to chase Brennan Seiber, giving way to Greysen Carter, who has stepped into a closer role as of late. The Bulldogs roughed him up and tacked on two more important insurance runs.
The biggest bright spot from today’s game might have been the relief performance from freshman Brennan Seiber. He pitched 3.1 innings, giving up one hit, one walk, and striking out five batters.
The bright spot certainly wasn’t the offensive effort from the Commodores. They went three up, three down in the ninth as the Bulldogs closed out a 7-4 victory to even the series. Game three is set for tomorrow at 1pm.
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