#21 Mississippi State Baseball Beats UC Santa Barbara 7-4

Gary Henderson’s Bulldogs needed a solid win to set the pace for the trip and that’s exactly what they got. As Mississippi State begins its trek across Texas, the Bulldogs got their second win under interim head coach Henderson’s lead. In Mississippi State’s game today in Corpus Christi, Texas against UC Santa Barbara, the Bulldogs came away with a solid 7-4 win.

Junior Konnor Pilkington took the mound for MSU and performed well. Through 5 innings, Pilkington faced 21 batters and didn’t yield a single earned run. Pilkington struck out 4, gave up 4 hits, and held UCSB to 2 unearned runs. Cole Gordon would step in to relieve Pilkington and struck out 5 batters in the process. After Jared Liebelt allowed a couple runs, Blake Smith would finish the game out and earn his first save of the season.

When it came to offense, Mississippi State saw no shortage at the plate. Freshman Josh Hatcher hit a home run in the 1st inning to get State on the scoreboard. Hatcher would hit another solo shot in the 4th inning. A Tanner Allen single and a double from Elijah MacNamee would go on to give MSU a 5-0 lead through 4 innings.

After a home run in the 5th inning and a couple of scores in the 8th inning, UC Santa Barbara would cut the lead to 5-4 headed into the 9th inning. Jake Mangum and Josh Hatcher would extended it back to a 3 run lead with a pair of singles, ending the game at 7-4.

Mississippi State is now 2-3 on the year and remains perfect with Gary Henderson as its coach. The Bulldogs have two more games in Corpus this weekend before continuing their trip through the Lone Star State.