Dubbed by fans as the “cardiac dawgs,” the No. 15 Mississippi State baseball team fell to Vanderbilt 4-3 but did not go down without making things remarkably interesting down the stretch in the late Thursday nightcap.
Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, none other than Bulldog center fielder Connor Hujsak got things going, hitting a triple to score David Mershon. Next up at the plate was Nate Chester in his first at-bat of the night as he was subbed in for Dakota Jordan earlier in the inning. Chester roped a single down the right field line, scoring Hujsak and putting Mississippi State within one run of the Commodores. Logan Kohler then grounded out to seal the first Bulldogs loss in this year’s postseason.
Vanderbilt jumped off to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning courtesy of a two-RBI single hit by Davis Diaz. A wild pitch by Bulldog switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje allowed a Commodore baserunner to touch home plate, putting Tim Corbin’s squad up 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth.
Mississippi State was able to break offensive ineptness in the sixth inning. An Amani Larry single that scored Hujsak gave the Bulldogs new life in the ball game. Three innings later, the bats came to life once again, but it was not enough.
A game that began as a pitcher’s duel between Cijntje and Vanderbilt’s JD Thompson was quickly overshadowed by two of the Bulldogs’ top sluggers continuing a pattern of offensive struggles. First baseman Hunter Hines and Jordan were a combined 0-8 at the plate with five collective strikeouts. Jordan, fresh off of being honored with the Ferris Trophy, has not put a ball in play in his last 18 plate appearances.
Despite surrendering three earned runs and being ascribed with the loss in the contest, Cijntje struck out 10 batters through six innings pitched. Thompson was given the win with eight strikeouts and just one run allowed in six innings.
Corbin broke an SEC Tournament record with Thursday night’s win and perhaps sprinkled a little salt in the collective wound of Mississippi State fans. The Commodore frontman amassed a conference-best 47 wins in the tournament, surpassing the record of 46 held by former Bulldog skipper Ron Polk.
Mississippi State will return to the diamond in an elimination game versus top-seeded Tennessee on Friday at a time to be determined. While Chris Lemonis’ squad is in conversations to be a host team in an upcoming NCAA Tournament regional, nothing has been set in stone. A win against the No. 1 team in the nation would give Mississippi State the RPI boost necessary to make a near-undeniable case to hold postseason games at Dudy Noble Field.
The conference showdown between the Bulldogs and Volunteers can be watched on the SEC Network or listened to on participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
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