Diamond Dawgs waste another strong pitching outing in 3-2 loss to Austin Peay
As the start of the season has shown a much-improved pitching staff for Mississippi State, it’s been the offense that has plagued the Diamond Dawgs in two early losses.
State pitching struck out 13 batters and walked zero against Austin Peay on Tuesday night but the offense went silent against the Governors. The Diamond Dawgs had just one hit and zero runs through the first 5.0 innings and took a bad midweek loss, 3-2.
It’s the second 3-2 loss for the Bulldogs this season as the team also dropped a game by the same score to Air Force last week. Offense was the common issue in both games as the Bulldogs had done enough on the mound to win.
“In the two games that we’ve lost, we had opportunities in the first inning and we just don’t take advantage of it and it builds and then you try a little harder,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “We’ve got good hitters. We’ve got some of the better hitters in the country. It’s being able to get out to a good start and let the game come to us. It’s like we’re out there trying to game. We’ve got to relax a little bit.”
Another strong pitching performance not enough in loss
It was a night where the Diamond Dawgs continued to make progress on the mound. State struck out 13 batters and walked zero in the game and they’ve now had 51 strikeouts to just nine walks in the first four games.
Despite that, State couldn’t give the team a lift on offense. MSU had just four hits in the game and three of those came from the top four hitters in the lineup. 5-9 in the order batted 1-for-17 with eight strikeouts.
“It is frustrating. We’ve pitched good enough all week to win. We probably have enough to win every game that we’ve played,” Lemonis said. “We’re just not getting it offensively. We’ve got good hitters; they’re just trying to do too much right now. You go through this ebb and flow of the season and sometimes you’re hot, sometimes you’re not. Unfortunately, we’ve started out offensively not. We’ve got to figure that out.”
The Bulldogs (2-2) had starter Evan Siary on the hook after going 2.0 innings, giving up three hits, a run, no walks and three strikeouts. The Starkville Academy alum gave up those three hits in the first inning but limited the damage and retired the last five batters that he faced.
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True freshman left hander Nolan Stevens threw 2.1 innings, gave up three hits, two runs, no walks and struck out three batters. He was nearly out of the third inning before hitting a batter with two outs and cleanup hitter Jon Jon Gazdar made him pay with a two-run home run.
That would prove to be the game-winning hit for the Governors as the Diamond Dawgs couldn’t find a way to get over the hump. State got its first hit in the third inning and got its first run in the sixth. The Bulldogs got the first four on base but got just two runs across on a Bryce Chance single and a Ross Highfill sacrifice fly.
Nate Chester struck out and Jackson McKenzie grounded out to end the inning.
Brooks Auger, Cole Cheatham and Cam Schuelke finished out the ball game for the Bulldogs with 4.2 innings, two hits, no runs, zero walks and six strikeouts.
Up Next
State will get back to work on Wednesday night for a 4 p.m. first pitch against the same Austin Peay team. Auger said the team isn’t panicking this early.
“That was the fourth game of the season. We’re just getting started,” Auger said. “Our pitching staff is doing good and our hitters really haven’t done bad, we just haven’t strung things together yet. If the pitching staff can keep being consistent, there’s not doubt in my mind our pitchers are going to light it up soon.”
