No. 23 Mississippi State baseball uses big 4th inning to beat No. 17 Texas Tech 11-5

BILOXI, Miss. — In the first of two midweek games at MGM Park, No. 23 Mississippi State topped No. 17 Texas Tech 11-5 on Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs (7-6, 0-0 SEC) scored nine runs in the fourth inning and one run each in the sixth and eighth innings, while the Red Raiders (10-3, 0-0 Big 12) scored one run apiece in the third, sixth and seventh innings and two in the eighth.

Freshman Hunter Hines led the MSU offensive attack with a 3-for-4 night at the plate with four RBIs and two runs, while junior Kamren James and senior Tanner Leggett both had two hits and two runs.

The Red Raiders were led by sophomore Jace Jung, who was 3-for-5 and finished a triple shy of the cycle. He accounted for two RBIs and scored one run.

MSU senior pitcher Parker Stinnett (2-0) started on the mound and earned the win after allowing one run on one hit with 12 strikeouts and three walks in five innings of work. Freshman pitcher Pico Kohn earned his second saving after pitching a clean 1 ²⁄₃ innings with three strikeouts.

Sophomore pitcher Chase Hampton (1-1) was charged with the loss for Texas Tech after allowing four runs on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks in three innings. Freshman pitcher Trendan Parish then pitched the fourth inning and allowed five runs on five hits with two strikeouts.

Texas Tech took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. After a leadoff strikeout, sophomore Dillon Carter reached on a fielding error and stole second. Jung’s double to right-center field plated him.

MSU responded by sending 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning and scoring nine runs off six hits to take a commanding 9-1 lead. James was hit by a pitch to lead things off and Hines followed with a single through the right side. Junior Logan Tanner drew a walk to load the bases before junior Von Seibert drew a walk to score James. After a strikeout, sophomore Kellum Clark hit a two-RBI single through the right side. Singles by Leggett and sophomore Davis Meche scored another run. Clark crossed home on a sacrifice fly before James’ single scored Leggett. Hines ended the scoring of the big inning with a three-run home run to center field.

Jung led off the top of the sixth inning with a single to right-center and a flyout followed. Senior Kurt Wilson then reached on a fielder’s choice and Owen Washburn scored him with an RBI triple down the right-field line to make it 9-2.

In the bottom half of the sixth, senior Luke Hancock, James and Hines strung together a trio of two-out singles to increase MSU’s lead to 10-2.

In the top of the seventh inning, senior Parker Kelly homered to left field to cut the Red Raiders’ deficit to seven runs.

The Red Raiders managed to cut the deficit in half in the top of the eighth inning. Jung homered to right field and junior Cole Stilwell followed with a single to left field. A double by Wilson put runners on second and third before a sacrifice fly made it a 10-5 ballgame.

Leggett led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A flyout pushed him to third before a wild pitch scored him to end the game’s scoring at 11-5.

The Bulldogs and Red Raiders will square off at 5 p.m. on Wednesday to wrap up the two-game series. It will be streaming on SEC Network+.