No. 4 Mississippi State falls 7-4 in series finale at No. 2 Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After leading 4-0 after two innings, the No. 4 Mississippi State baseball team surrendered seven unanswered runs to fall 7-4 in the series finale against Vanderbilt at Hawkins Field.

With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 29-10 (11-7 SEC). The Commodores improve to 31-7 (13-5 SEC).

Senior Tanner Allen led the MSU offense with three hits, one RBI and one run, while graduate student Scotty Dubrule added one hit with two RBIs.

Freshman starting pitcher Jackson Fristoe (3-3) was charged with the loss for the Bulldogs after surrendering five runs (four earned) on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Vanderbilt sophomore pitcher Chris McElvain provided 5 ¹⁄₃ innings of relief pitching and allowed just one run to earn the win. He allowed five hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Sophomore pitcher Nick Maldonado earned his third save of the season after pitching 3 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings with four strikeouts and one walk.

In the top of the first inning, MSU jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Senior Rowdey Jordan drew a leadoff walk and moved up to second on a failed pickoff attempt. Sophomore Kamren James then drew a one-out walk before junior Luke Hancock doubled to left field to score Jordan. A walk followed before Dubrule hit a two-RBI single to left field.

Allen increased the MSU lead to 4-0 in the top of the second inning when he homered to center field.

After a scoreless third inning, the Commodores cut the MSU lead in half in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore Carter Young began the frame with a leadoff triple to center field before junior Dominic Keegan’s groundout scored him. Freshman Jack Bulger followed by reaching on a throwing error and advancing to second. Sophomore CJ Rodriguez then lined a single to right field to score Bulger and make it a 4-2 ballgame.

A strikeout began the bottom of the fifth inning before senior Jayson Gonzalez singled to right field. Freshman Enrique Bradfield Jr. then drew a walk before Young hit a three-run home run to right field to give Vanderbilt a 5-4 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, sophomore Parker Noland drew a leadoff walk before junior Isaiah Thomas reached on a fielder’s choice to put runners on first and second. Senior Cooper Davis advanced both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt and Bradfield drove home both runners with a single to left field to end the game’s scoring at 7-4.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Friday when they host Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. CT for the first game of a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field.