Mississippi State Drops Game 2 Against Southern Miss.

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Diamond Dawgs looked to rebound yesterday against the Golden Eagles after a 11-0 shutout loss Friday.

Mississippi State (0-2) fell in the second game of the three-game trip against Southern Mississippi (2-0).

MSU was trailing early after a three run first inning by the Golden Eagles on three hits.

A pair of solo homers by USM pushed the deficit to five runs after just two innings of work.

The Diamond Dawgs finally got the offense going in the third inning when Jake Mangum led off with a double to center and Josh Hatcher hit a two-run homer to make it a 5-2 ball game after three innings of work. Hatcher was the main bright spot of the Diamond Dawgs as the freshman had a second consecutive three-hit game.

The score would remain the same for the next two innings before USM would add two more runs in the sixth inning off an RBI triple and an RBI groundout pushing the Golden Eagles lead to 7-2.

MSU added a run in the eighth inning off a Hunter Vansau single that brought in Hunter Stovall and another one in the ninth after Justin Foscue brought Tanner Allen across home on a sacrifice fly. Vansau and Allen also added two hits a piece for the MSU offense.

Ethan Small (0-1) got the starting nod for MSU and pitched four innings. He allowed five runs, all earned, on seven hits and struck out six batters.

Jarod Wright (1-0) was credited with the win for the Golden Eagles after coming in relief. He pitched 3.2 innings, allowed one run, and struck out one batter.

The series finale is set for today at 1 p.m.