No. 23 Mississippi State breaks through in 8th inning to beat Binghamton 13-5

STARKVILLE, Miss. — With the scored tied 5-5, the No. 23 Mississippi State baseball team scored eight runs in the eighth inning to beat Binghamton 13-5 Monday night at Dudy Noble Field.

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 11-7 (0-0 SEC), while the Bearcats fall to 3-10 (0-0 AEC).

Hits were 11-9 in favor of MSU. Junior Kamren James led the Bulldogs with a 3-for-5 night at the plate with one run scored, while graduate student RJ Yeager was 2-for-5 with four RBIs and freshman Hunter Hines was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

Junior Connor Aoki led Binghamton with two hits and four RBIs and junior Nick Di Vietro also had two hits.

Freshman pitcher Jack Walker started for MSU and allowed four runs on four hits in two innings with five strikeouts and two walks. Senior Brandon Smith then pitched two scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Sophomore Lane Forsythe allowed one run on one hit in an inning of work.

The Bulldogs then used senior Cam Tullar, senior Drew Talley, sophomore Brooks Auger (1-0) and sophomore Jackson Fristoe. Auger earned the win after striking out two batters in a scoreless eighth inning.

For the Bearcats, sophomore starter Justin Rosner worked the first 2 ¹⁄₃ innings and allowed just one run with three strikeouts. Junior Jack Collins then pitched 2 ²⁄₃ innings with four strikeouts and one run allowed. Sophomore Alex Henderson then allowed one run on one hit with two strikeouts and four walks in two innings. Freshman Troy Butler (0-1) was charged with the loss after allowing three runs in one-third of an inning.

In the top of the first inning, senior Jake Evans drew a one-out walk and Aoki was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. Junior Cavan Tully followed with a single to right-center field to give Binghamton a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the first, graduate student Jess Davis drew a walk and stole second. Senior Luke Hancock hit a grounder that was errored by the second baseman, which allowed Davis to score from second base. A fielder’s choice allowed junior Logan Tanner to reach first, and Hines followed with a double to left field to score him. Sophomore Kellum Clark’s RBI single through the right side gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead.

Binghamton matched MSU’s three-run inning with three runs in the top of the second inning to take a 4-3 lead. Di Vietro hit a leadoff double and sophomore Isaiah Corry laid down a perfect bunt to put two runners on. A walk loaded the bases before Aoki hit a three-RBI double to center field.

After a scoreless third inning, Yeager homered to left field to tie the game at 4-4 after four innings of play. In the top of the fifth inning, Aoki hit a home run to left field to give the Bearcats a 5-4 lead.

The Bulldogs knotted the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Davis drew a walk and James followed with a single up the middle to put runners on the corners. Back-to-back walks plated Davis and tied the score.

MSU then exploded for eight runs in the top of the eighth inning on four hits. James drew a one-out walk and stole second. Hancock was then walked, and James stole third. After Hancock stole second, Tanner hit a two-RBI single through the left side. Hines then hit a two-run home run. After that, Clark was hit by a pitch and senior Brayland Skinner drew a walk. Yeager cleared the bases with a three-run home run to left field. Senior Tanner Leggett followed with a homer to left field to give the Bulldogs a 13-5 game-ending lead.

Up next, MSU will open Southeastern Conference play with a three-game series at No. 20 Georgia beginning Friday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.