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Diamond Dawg bats carry State to 12-7 win in game two at No. 11 Auburn

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•04/26/25•

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Gherig Frei (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

A large lead for Mississippi State wasn’t safe on Saturday night at No. 11 Auburn.

Despite being on the verge of a run-rule win with a 10-1 lead, the Diamond Dawgs let the Tigers have some life in the later innings. Auburn started climbing back into the ball game and closed the game to four runs, but State would find a way to bear down and get the game two win at 12-7.

It was another game where State’s bullpen struggled to throw up zeroes as Stone Simmons surrendered five hits and four runs in 1.1 innings of relief, but Nate Williams and Luke Dotson did their job.

“It’s been a tough week in that bullpen. I thought Nate Williams made a great pitch, and Luke Dotson was great in the ninth. (Dotson’s) stuff was really good,” coach Chris Lemonis said. “The message has been to attack because we’ve been a little timid out of the bullpen lately and you can’t do that. We gave up a couple in the middle, but we got out of it.”

In an 11-7 ball game, Williams walked two batters to load the bases with one out. The right hander would get a ground ball to get a 5-4-3 double play and ended the threat. Dotson came in for the ninth inning and pitched a perfect frame with three strikeouts to secure the win.

There shouldn’t have been much drama for State as the offense had given it every opportunity to cruise. The Bulldogs built a 10-1 lead in the game after four innings. Every player in the lineup reached base in the game.

State had 15 hits with four doubles and three home runs. Bryce Chance, Gehrig Frei and Sawyer Reeves led the way with three hits each with Frei delivering two double and an RBI. Chance drove in two runs with a double. Ace Reese was 2-for-5 with three RBI and a home run.

“I thought it was up and down the lineup the at bats. I thought the whole group was great. Sawyer, Gehrig, Bryce – everybody stepped up,” Lemonis said. “Everything is contagious in this sport.”

Home runs came off the bat of Hunter Hines and Noah Sullivan. Hines drove in three runs. For Hines, he moved past 200 career RBI and is one of eight players and school history to accomplish that feat. He also slugged his 63rd career home run which is four away from tying Rafael Palmeiro’s school record of 67.

State scored four runs in the first inning thanks to a couple two-run homers. Ace Reese hit the first one and Hines followed to build a 4-0 lead. A six-hit fourth inning with four RBI hits would lead to a six-run frame as Chance had two hits that inning including a double and a two-RBI single.

“That first inning set the tone because they had to go to the bullpen,” Lemonis said.

By the fifth inning, Auburn started to make its comeback. The Tigers hit four solo home runs over the course of the next four innings and drove in two more runs in the eighth to close it to 11-7. That’s when Williams was able to get the play of the day on a ground ball double play to end the threat.

State was able to get a run back in the top of the ninth as Frei singled home Sanders for a 12-7 advantage and Dotson closed it out in the bottom of the frame.

The victory sets up a chance to get a second top 15 series win for the Diamond Dawgs against the state of Alabama. MSU (25-18, 7-13 SEC) has already knocked off Alabama in a series and can take this one from Auburn at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

“We’ve got a chance to get a series against the No. 11 team in the country (Sunday),” Lemonis said. “We’ll get a good night’s sleep and come out ready to roll.”

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