Mississippi State Falls To Southeastern Louisiana

BILOXI, Miss. – Despite scoring five runs in the first inning, the Diamond Dawgs (10-7) fell to the Southeastern Louisiana Lions (13-6) by a score of 11-5. Three big innings from the Lions were just too much for MSU.

The Lions got on the board first by taking a 1-0 lead with a ground rule RBI-double by Taylor Schwaner in the top of the first inning.

MSU came back with five runs of their own in the bottom half the first inning. A bases-loaded walk to Luke Alexander tied the game at one, and a Josh Hatcher sacrifice fly, Elijah MacNamee single and Rowdey Jordan two-RBI single gave the Diamond Dawgs a commanding 5-1 lead.

Southeastern Louisiana tied the game in the top of the third inning after a four-run inning. A three-run triple and an RBI-groundout made it a 5-5 ballgame after three frames.

The Lions then added three runs in the sixth inning, followed by three more runs in the seventh inning to take a 11-5 game-ending lead.

The hits were 11-7 in favor of the Lions. Jake Mangum led the Diamond Dawgs with two hits.

Starting pitcher Cole Marsh pitched two innings and allowed the first four runs on two hits. He walked two batters, and struck out two batters. Six relief pitchers saw action in the game, with Keegan James (1-2) being charged with the loss after allowing three runs in just 0.1 innings of action.

Corey Gaconi (1-0) allowed five runs on seven hits in a complete game on the mound. He had four strikeouts in the game.

The Diamond Dawgs will return home for another five-game homestand that will begin Friday against No. 11 Vanderbilt to open a three-game Southeastern Conference series. The Diamond Dawgs and Commodores will continue and conclude their three-game series Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.