No. 5 Bulldogs baseball sweeps doubleheader against Texas A&M

STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 5 Mississippi State baseball (32-10, 14-7 SEC) swept Texas A&M (24-22, 5-16 SEC) in Saturday’s doubleheader to complete a three-game series sweep.

The Bulldogs won the first game of the doubleheader 3-2 before taking the second game 10-5.

GAME 1 | No. 5 Mississippi State 3, Texas A&M 2

Senior Tanner Allen and junior Luke Hancock recorded two hits apiece of MSU’s six total hits.

Sophomore starting pitcher Will Bednar (4-1) earned the win for the Bulldogs after pitching five innings, allowing one run on five hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Sophomore pitcher Stone Simmons got his second save of the season after tossing 1 ¹⁄₃ innings of scoreless baseball. He struck out one batter and walked one.

Texas A&M senior starting pitcher Bryce Miller (2-2) was charged with the loss after allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits. He fanned three batters and walked eight.

The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sophomore Logan Tanner led off by drawing a walk before moving up to second on a wild pitch. Graduate student Scotty Dubrule then drew a walk to put runners on first and second. After that, Tanner was thrown out at third but junior Brad Cumbest reached on a fielder’s choice. Senior Tanner Leggett drew another walk to load the bases. Dubrule wound up scoring on a wild pitch.

A flyout began the bottom of the fifth inning before Hancock singled to right field and Tanner drew a walk. Dubrule then reached on a fielding error, which scored Hancock, while Tanner scored on a sacrifice fly from Cumbest to make it a 3-0 ballgame.

A leadoff home run in the top of the sixth inning by junior Austin Bost cut the MSU lead to 3-1. In the top of the seventh inning, junior Taylor Smith hit a one-out double and scored on graduate student Ray Alejo’s RBI single to end the game’s scoring at 3-2.

GAME 2 | No. 5 Mississippi State 10, Texas A&M 5

Cumbest led the way in the second game of the doubleheader with a 3-for-4 showing at the plate with three RBIs and three runs. Tanner finished with three hits and two runs, while senior Rowdey Jordan recorded two hits and three RBIs.

Starting pitcher Jackson Fristoe tossed two innings and allowed three runs on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

Senior Houston Harding (5-1) was credited with the win after five innings of scoreless relief pitching. He surrendered four hits and two walks and struck out four batters. Junior Cam Tullar pitched 1 ²⁄₃ innings of hitless baseball with two strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.

Texas A&M freshman starting pitcher Nathan Dettmer (3-2) was charged with the loss after allowing five runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and one walk in 3 ¹⁄₃ innings of work.

In the top of the second inning, graduate student Mikey Hoehner drew a one-out walk. Alejo then hit a two-out single to put runners on the corners. Back-to-back RBI singles by Bost and senior Will Frizzell gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the second, Dubrule reached on a fielder’s choice before Cumbest followed with a two-run home run to left field to tie things at 2-2.

Texas A&M made it a 3-2 game in the top of the third inning on Hoehner’s RBI single, but the Bulldogs tied it in the bottom half on Hancock’s RBI single up the middle.

Cumbest led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single through the left side before he stole second. Freshman Lane Forsythe brought him home with a double to left-center field. Jordan followed with an RBI single through the right side to make it 5-3.

The Bulldogs struck for four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to increase their lead to 9-3. After a flyout and groundout began the inning, Tanner reached on a fielding error. Dubrule and Cumbest followed with a pair of singles to plate the first run before senior Tanner Leggett’s single down the left-field line scored another. Jordan brought two more runners across on a two-RBI single.

Texas A&M scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning on a Bost RBI single and a sacrifice fly from graduate student Hunter Coleman to make it 9-5.

A bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth inning plated the Bulldogs’ 10th run of the game and ended the scoring at 10-5.

The Bulldogs return to action Wednesday when they travel to Charleston, South Carolina, to play The Citadel. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.