:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58781725/DWnUJ9RVAAAoIWP.0.jpg)
Mississippi State’s season hasn’t started out like most had hoped or the team had planned. A sweep to Southern Miss in Hattiesburg was followed by the resignation of Andy Cannizaro which left many Mississippi State fans rightfully panicked. However, the Bulldogs bounced back last night and got a much needed win on the road.
Against a vastly inferior opponent in Jackson State and under the new leadership of Gary Henderson, Mississippi State’s baseball team bounced back from the early drama and won 12-1.
At the plate, the Bulldogs found new life and had plenty of success. MSU earned 10 hits and 11 walks on their way to scoring 12 runs. Four of those runs came in the form of home runs from Hunter Vansau (a solo shot in the top of the 4th) and Tanner Poole (a three run homer in the top of the 5th).
State got the scoring started early yesterday, with an RBI single by Vansau in the first and an error and wild pitch giving MSU a 2-0 lead. In the 4th, a Vansau home run and a Rowdey Jordan single would push the lead to 5-0. An inning later, Poole’s three run shot extended MSU’s lead to 8-0.
The Bulldogs would go on to have a 10-0 lead in the 8th inning before Jackson State even got on the board thanks to a wild pitch. MSU would finish the game out with two more runs in the 9th to bring the score to 12-1.
On the mound, transfer JP France would earn his first start and win. The 5th year senior threw 3.0 innings of scoreless baseball, surrendering one hit and issuing two walks while also striking out two of the eight batters he faced. France would be relieved by Keegan James, who threw for 3.2 innings. James would strike out 5 batters in his time on the mound. After Trystan Barlow faced a couple of batters, junior transfer Jared Liebelt would come in for 1 inning of work and struck out 2 batters in that time. Riley Self would close things out for Mississippi State with an inning and a couple of strikeouts of his own.
Mississippi State is now set to hit the road to travel across Louisiana and Texas, where they’ll face 8 different teams in 4 different cities, while traveling over 1400 miles in roughly a week and a half.