Diamond Dawgs end series losing streak at home against No. 2 LSU with statement weekend

A lot has happened in the world since the last time that Mississippi State took down LSU in a baseball series in Starkville.

21 years have come and gone since State last celebrated against the Tigers at Dudy Noble Field with a series victory. Social media was an afterthought as Facebook and Twitter hadn’t even been incorporated, Ron Polk was the Diamond Dawg head man, Chris Lemonis was an assistant coach at The Citadel and most of State’s team were either toddlers or hadn’t been born.

State took that frustration out on the defending champions this weekend as No. 2 LSU would feel the wrath of the Bulldog offense. Sunday ended in a 15-5 run-rule in eight innings as MSU had a hard-earned series victory to start SEC play.

“LSU is one of the standards in college baseball just like we’re one of the standards in college baseball,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “When you get a chance to win a series over these guys, that means a lot. It means a lot to our kids in the clubhouse.”

Bulldog bats come alive

A day after coming up just short of getting the series win, State was relentless at the plate yet again on Sunday. The Bulldogs scored 10 runs in the first game of the series on Friday night and came back from a 9-1 deficit on Saturday before falling 9-8.

On Sunday, State pounded out 15 hits with four doubles and two home runs and answered any rally that the Tigers had in them.

State scored three runs in the first inning on three doubles as Amani Larry, Connor Hujsak and Aaron Downs all delivered two-baggers. Hujsak drove in two with two outs and Downs followed.  

Starter Jurrangelo Citntje helped keep that momentum early in the game as he rolled in the first four innings with just four hits, no runs and no walks allowed. The fifth inning was a bit of an issue for Cijntje, however, as he walked five batters and gave up three runs on one hit to tie the game.

The key all game long was State’s answer. MSU did it in a big way in the bottom of the frame as Dakota Jordan blasted a three-run home run with one out and Hunter Hines followed with a solo shot to right to push the lead out to 7-3.

“Now I feel like their thought process is ‘who are you going to walk now,’” Jordan said of pitchers facing he and Hunter Hines. “You’ve got to pitch to both of us.”

The Bulldogs nearly had a shutdown inning in the sixth with Cam Schuelke getting two outs with a runner on third base and he had two strikes on Tommy White. Instead, Schuelke made a mistake and gave White a fastball he put over the fence in right center that cut the lead to 7-5.

The bottom of the sixth would remove all doubt for the Bulldogs. Jordan, Aaron Downs and Logan Kohler would deliver RBI hits as the Bulldogs drove in five runs to push it out to 12-5. The Bulldogs would get three more runs in the eighth including a walk-off walk for Amani Larry.

The Bulldogs had hits from every player in the lineup with four different players finishing with multiple hits. Downs was 4-of-5 with two RBI and a double, David Mershon, Jordan and Hujsak all had two hits. Jordan had a game-high four RBI with a home run and Hujsak drove in two.

“We knew it was going to be a tough matchup for us today,” Downs said. “We knew they weren’t just going to roll over and give it to us so we had to fight with everything that we had to do.”

Despite the ending of the game for Cijntje (4-0), it was a strong start to give the Bulldogs a chance to build on offense. Tyler Davis finished off the Tigers as he threw 2.0 innings of one-run ball with a walk, no runs and two strikeouts.

The win might have been the first in 21 years for the Bulldogs in Starkville, but State has won back-to-back against LSU and Lemonis is now 3-2 in series against the Tigers. There are more tough opponents coming in the next two weeks with No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 8 Florida both on the road.

For this weekend, Lemonis and his team will enjoy this.

“It feels good, I can tell you that. The guys played great,” Lemonis said. “Just a tremendous effort in all three games. The competitive spirit was really high. I challenged them Thursday that they were going to be exhausted on Sunday and I think I’m exhausted. What a fun weekend.”