No. 5 Mississippi State Baseball Closes Out Sweep of No. 11 Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. — No. 5 Mississippi State baseball was down one after three innings, but scored nine runs in the top of the fourth en route to an 11-5 series sweep of No. 11 Ole Miss Sunday afternoon at Swayze Field.

MSU (42-10, 18-9 SEC) scored a run in the third inning, nine in the fourth inning and one in the ninth inning. Ole Miss (32-20, 15-12 SEC) plated a run in the first inning, one in third inning, one in the fourth inning and two in the eighth inning. The series sweep is also the third in SEC play this season for the Diamond Dawgs.

Ole Miss took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after sophomore Tyler Keenan singled through the right side and scored on an RBI triple from junior Thomas Dillard. State knotted things up with a run in the third when senior Marshall Gilbert drew a walk, advanced to third on a single from senior Jake Mangum and scored on an RBI groundout from sophomore Jordan Westburg. The Rebels regained a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning when sophomore Anthony Servideo singled and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Dillard.

Down one in the top of the fourth, the Diamond Dawg offense erupted for nine runs on seven hits to take a 10-2 lead. The big inning began with a pair of outs before junior Dustin Skelton singled through the left side. Junior Gunner Halter then singled up the middle to put two runners on before Gilbert’s single up the middle scored Skelton from second. Mangum was then intentionally walked to load the bases before walks surrendered to Westburg and sophomore Tanner Allen plated another two runs. Two more runs came across to score on a single from freshman Luke Hancock before sophomore Justin Foscue’s double down the left field line scored Allen. The final three runs of the frame came from a two-RBI double from sophomore Rowdey Jordan and an RBI single from Skelton.

Ole Miss would score a run in its half of the fourth inning when freshman Kevin Graham singled and came around to score on a pair of MSU errors.

The score remained the same until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Rebels scored two runs on a pair of RBI singles from senior Jacob Adams and sophomore Carl Gindl to make it 10-5.

A pair of two-out doubles from Gilbert and Mangum scored the final run of the game in the top of the ninth inning.

Offensively, State outhit the Rebels 17-10. Skelton and Allen led the team with three hits apiece. Both of them also recorded an RBI. Mangum finished with pair of hits, scored one run and drove in one RBI. Gilbert chipped in with two hits, one RBI and three runs scored, while Jordan finished with two hits and two RBIs.

Senior right-hander Peyton Plumlee (5-3) turned in a solid day on the mound, as he tossed 7 ²⁄₃ innings where he allowed five runs—four earned—on seven hits. He fanned three batters and walked two. Freshman Brandon Smith got the final out of the eighth inning and allowed two hits. Graduate student Cole Gordon finished the ninth and struck out two of the four batters he faced.

Freshman right-hander Gunner Hoglund (1-2) was charged with the Ole Miss loss after five runs came across to score on eight hits in 3 ²⁄₃ innings. He struck out one batter and walked two.

The Diamond Dawgs will close the regular season with four-straight home games at Dudy Noble Field, beginning with a midweek contest against Louisiana Tech on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m CT. It will be televised by SEC Network+.