Mississippi State Drops Rubber Match At No. 21 Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. – Sunday afternoon in a three-game Southeastern Conference series at Plainsman Park.

WIth the loss, State falls to 19-18 (5-10 SEC), while Auburn improves to 25-12 (6-9 SEC).

MSU lost the first of the series 2-1 and tied the series yesterday after winning 7-2.

The game was held scoreless until the fifth inning when the Diamond Dawg offense built a 3-0 lead. Jake Mangum doubled and scored Tanner Poole, who reached on a one-out single. Luke Alexander then followed with a two-run home run to left center.

MSU increased the lead to 4-0 in the sixth inning after Justin Foscue doubled and scored after Marshall Gilbert hit a double of his own.

Auburn erased a four-run deficit with a big seven-run sixth inning to make it a 7-4 ballgame. Brett Wright doubled and scored Will Holland and Steven Williams scored on a wild pitch. Brendan Venter’s three-run home run made it 5-4. Judd Ward tripled and scored Luke Jarvis and Ward scored the final run of the big inning on a groundout.

The Dawgs added one more run in the ninth inning after Josh Hatcher scored on a single by Rowdey Jordan, but it wasn’t enough, as the Tigers took the series two games to one.

MSU finished with 10 hits and Auburn finished with eight. Mangum led State with two hits.

Jacob Billingsley started on the mound for the Dawgs. He pitched 5.1 innings, allowing five hits and three runs. He had seven strikeouts and no walks.

Cole Gordon (2-2) came in relief and failed to record an out. He allowed the three-run home run that gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead. Zach Neff relieved Gordon and worked MSU out of the sixth inning. Blake Smith pitched the final two outs.

Cody Greenhill was credited with the win for the Tigers after coming in relief and pitching 4.1 innings. He allowed two runs, both earned, on five hits. He recorded five strikeouts and no walks.

MSU will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Memphis to play the Memphis Tigers at AutoZone Park with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch.