No. 5 Mississippi State beats No. 7 Ole Miss 5-2 in series opener

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The No. 5 Mississippi State baseball team began Super Bulldog Weekend with a 5-2 win over No. 7 Ole Miss on Friday in the first game of a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field.

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 26-7 (9-4 SEC), while the Rebels fall to 25-9 (8-5 SEC).

The game was tied 2-2 through five innings before MSU used an extra-base hit from senior Tanner Allen to take the lead for good.

MSU sophomore Kamren James finished with two hits and four RBIs, while Allen recorded three hits and two runs.

Junior starting pitcher Christian MacLeod pitched five innings, allowing two runs and four hits. He fanned five batters and walked two.

Junior Preston Johnson (1-0) earned the win after a one-hit two innings of work with four strikeouts and one walk. Sophomore Landon Sims earned his fourth save of the year after pitching two scoreless innings with one hit allowed and three strikeouts.

Ole Miss junior pitcher Gunnar Hoglund (3-2) was charged with the loss after allowing three runs on four hits with nine strikeouts.

In the bottom of the first inning, Allen hit a one-out double to center field before scoring on James’ RBI single to left field to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

The Rebels responded in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 1-1. Senior Cael Baker singled to left field before freshman Jacob Gonzalez drew a walk. Sophomore Peyton Chatagnier then hit a ball between third and short that was fumbled in left field to score Baker.

In the top of the fourth inning, freshman TJ McCants homered to right field to give the Rebels a 2-1 lead. In the bottom half, James hit a home run of his own to tie things up at 2-2.

The Bulldogs took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Allen lined a triple into the gap in left-center field and scored on James’ sacrifice fly.

MSU added two more runs to its lead in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it a 5-2 ballgame. Graduate student Scotty Dubrule hit a one-out double down the left-field line before scoring on senior Rowdey Jordan’s single to right field. Allen followed with a single to move Jordan to third. A sacrifice fly from James scored Jordan.

The Bulldogs and Rebels return to the diamond on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT for the second game of the series. The game will be streaming on SEC Network+.