Mississippi State tops UAB 6-5 in 10 innings

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State topped UAB 6-5 in 10 innings on Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field.

The Bulldogs (19-15, 4-8 SEC) trailed the Blazers (21-11, 7-5 C-USA) 5-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth before freshman Hunter Hines tied the game with a two-run home run. In the bottom of the 10th inning, junior Kamren James lifted a game-winning RBI sacrifice fly to right field.

Offensively, MSU outhit UAB 14-10. Sophomore Lane Forsythe led the way with a 4-for-5 night at the plate with two runs scored. Hines finished with two hits, two RBIs and two runs, while junior Logan Tanner finished with two hits and one RBI and senior Luke Hancock finished with two hits and two runs.

For UAB, redshirt senior Josh Sears, junior Christian Hall and freshman Logan Braunschweig each recorded two hits, one RBI and one run. Freshman Henry Hunter also finished with two hits.

Freshman pitcher Pico Kohn started for the Bulldogs and allowed two runs on four hits in two innings pitched. Five pitchers followed Kohn, including senior Parker Stinnett, senior Drew Talley. sophomore Brooks Auger, sophomore Jackson Fristoe and junior KC Hunt (1-1). Hunt earned the win after pitching two scoreless innings with five strikeouts.

Sophomore pitcher Leo Harris started for the Blazers and allowed two runs on six hits with two strikeouts in 3 ¹⁄₃ innings. UAB used nine pitchers in total, with freshman Carson Myers (2-3) being charged with the loss.

In the top of the first inning, junior Brandon Willoughby hit a one-out double down the right-field line. A groundout followed before Hall’s single up the middle scored him. Kohn hit the next batter before Braunschweig hit an RBI single through the left side to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom half, Hancock hit a two-out double down the right-field line and scored on Tanner’s RBI single up the middle to cut the deficit in half.

After a scoreless second inning, UAB added one to its lead on a solo home run down the left-field line by Sears.

MSU would draw within one at 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Freshman Slate Alford hit a leadoff single up the middle and advanced to second base on a passed ball. Forsythe’s single put runners on the corners before graduate student RJ Yeager hit an RBI single to left-center field.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Forsythe hit a two-out single and advanced to second after Yeager was hit by a pitch. James then doubled down the left-field line to make it a 3-3 ballgame.

Senior Caleb Floyd was walked to begin the top of the ninth inning and back-to-back doubles by Braunschweig and senior Matthew Golda gave the Blazers a 5-3 lead. In the bottom half, Hancock singled to right-center and Hines homered down the left-field line to send the game into extra innings.

Forsythe hit a one-out single up the middle in the top of the 10th inning and made his way to third on a two-base error. A walk would follow before the Bulldogs walked off to victory on an RBI sacrifice fly from James.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Thursday when they open a three-game series against No. 17 Auburn at 7 p.m. CT at Dudy Noble Field. The series continues Friday at 6 p.m. before concluding with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. Thursday’s opener will air on SEC Network, while the other two games will air on SEC Network+.