Bulldogs Drop Rubber Match to Long Beach State

LONG BEACH, Calif. — The No. 4 Mississippi State baseball team dropped a 6-2 rubber match to Long Beach State Sunday afternoon at Blair Field.

With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 7-4, while the Dirtbags improve to 8-3.

MSU took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Junior Tanner Allen reached first on a fielder’s choice. Junior Justin Foscue followed with a single through the left side to put runners on the corners. Foscue moved up to second before sophomore Brandon Pimentel drew a walk to load the bases. Freshman Kamren James knocked in two runs with a base hit up the middle.

The Dirtbags wound up tying the game with a runs in the third and fourth innings. Redshirt senior Calvin Estrada drew a two-out walk in the third. Redshirt sophomore Leonard Jones followed with a single to left center to put runners on first and third. Redshirt freshman Connor Kokx’s single through the right side made it a 2-1 game.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, senior Aidan Malm led off with a triple to right field for Long Beach State. Redshirt senior Cole Joy brought him home with an RBI single to knot things up at 2-2.

A pair of RBI doubles then gave the Dirtbags a 4-2 lead after five innings of play.

Jones homered in the seventh inning to increase Long Beach State’s lead to 5-2 before an RBI single from Jones made it a 6-2 ballgame.

The Bulldogs were outhit 11-7 with freshman Logan Tanner leading MSU with two hits.

Sophomore Eric Cerantola (1-1) allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings. He struck out four batters and walked two.

Freshman Landon Sims then threw 2 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing two runs on two hits. Graduate Spencer Price threw the final one-third of an inning and allowed one hit.

Freshman righty Luis Ramirez (2-0) earned the win for the Dirtbags after allowing two runs on seven hits in seven innings pitched. He fanned four batters and walked three.

The Bulldogs will now play Southern Miss at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT.