No. 3 Diamond Dawgs Outlast Texas Southern, 5-1, in Midweek Win

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Four runs in the eighth inning allowed the No. 3 Mississippi State baseball team to outlast Texas Southern, 5-1, Tuesday evening at Dudy Noble Field.

The Diamond Dawgs improve to 32-6 with the midweek win, while Texas Southern falls to 11-23.

A run came across to score in the bottom of the first inning after senior Jake Mangum led off with a single and came around to score on an RBI double from senior Elijah MacNamee. The MSU lead was erased in the third inning after redshirt-junior Keegan James surrendered a pair of walks to Texas Southern’s Christian Sanchez and Olajide Oloruntimilehin. A stolen base followed by a throwing error allowed the tying run to score to make it 1-1.

The game remained 1-1 until the eighth inning when State managed four runs on three hits. Sophomore Tanner Allen reached first after being hit by a pitch. MacNamee then singled to left field before a wild pitch put runners on second and third. Sophomore Justin Foscue’s single through the left side scored Allen before a ground out plated MacNamee. Junior Dustin Skelton added to the late-inning offense with a two-run home run to left center to give MSU a 5-1 lead.

The Dawgs outhit Texas Southern 10-2, with MacNamee leading the team with two hits.

Freshman right-hander Brandon Smith got the start on the mound and tossed two scoreless innings where he allowed two hits and struck out three batters. James then pitched the third inning and surrendered the only run of the game. Redshirt-junior Tyler Spring and junior Jack Eagan then tossed two innings apiece of scoreless baseball. Junior Colby White (2-1) earned the win after striking out one batter in a clean eighth inning. Senior Jared Liebelt and redshirt-junior Trysten Barlow completed the ninth inning after getting two outs and one out, respectively.

Freshman Alex Olguin (2-2) was charged with the Tiger loss after tossing 7 ²⁄₃ innings where he allowed four runs on nine hits. He struck out three batters and walked two.

State will be back in action Thursday when the Dawgs travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas to face No. 12 Arkansas in a three-game Southeastern Conference series. First pitch Thursday is set for 8 p.m. CT and will be televised by ESPNU. Friday’s game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT with Saturday’s series finale beginning at 2 p.m. CT. Both those games will be televised by SEC Network+ and Mississippi State Sports Network.