Mississippi State Rallies against Arkansas in SEC Baseball Tournament

The Bulldogs have turned the comeback victory into an exquisite art form. They put their preferred medium on full display against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Thursday.

Mississippi State had won 21 games when trailing at some point in the baseball game. On Thursday, they dug themselves into that hole early when Arkansas hit a two run home run in the 1st inning and followed up with another run in the 2nd inning to take a 3-0 lead.

That would be all the Razorbacks would get, and the Bulldogs began to chip away at the lead. Mississippi State scared once in the 6th, another run in the 8th, and the tying and go ahead runs in the 9th inning.

The Bulldogs made the most noise in the 9th inning. Brent Rooker doing Brent Rooker things doubled home Ryan Gridley to score the tying run in the 9th inning. After a bunt single by Jake Mangum, Hunter Stovall was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Cody Brown then followed up with a walk to score Rooker from 3rd base to give the Bulldogs the lead. Riley Self came in and closed out the game in the 9th.

The real hero of the game though might be Peyton Plumlee. One of the biggest concerns coming into the SEC Tournament was whether or not the Bulldogs would have enough pitching to survive the numerous games the Bulldogs would have to pitch. Plumlee entered the game in the 5th inning and didn’t give up any runs throughout his appearance before giving way to Self in the 9th inning. The Bulldogs have only used 5 pitchers in the Tournament, and two of those pitchers have only pitched one inning.

The Bulldogs take the field again tomorrow in the Winners’ Bracket against top seeded Florida. The game will be on the SEC Network and starts at 11 am.