State brings the bats again, takes series over Missouri in 13-3 run rule

Mississippi State’s red-hot run continued on Friday night.

After scoring 25 runs in a win against the Missouri Tigers in game one of the series, the Diamond Dawgs brought out the bats yet again to take the series. State used 13 hits, four home runs and four doubles to make easy work of Mizzou and finish out a 13-3 win in just 7.0 innings.

Highlighting the way in the game was a home run from Hunter Hines in the sixth inning that would hand the senior first baseman the all-time record  for a career. Hines passed the great Rafael Palmeiro with 68 homers in his four-year career.

“I think it’s for him, I think it’s for all of his teammates and coach (Jake) Gautreau,” interim head coach Justin Parker said on the postgame radio. “To see him do it, to see the elation and see all the smiles, it’s a great moment for all of us.”

Bulldogs hit 12 home runs in the first 16.0 innings

Hines wasn’t the only one hitting the baseball. After State had a school-record eight home runs in the first game of the series, the Bulldogs came through with four more on Friday night.

Ace Reese was the big bat again as he had his second-straight game in the series with three hits. Reese extended his hitting streak to 20 games as he finished 3-for-3 with four runs scored, two doubles, a home run and an RBI. He hit his 20^th home run of the season and has three of those in the series to this point.

Along with the Reese hitting streak being extended, Bryce Chance pushed his to 16 games. Chance was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a home run of his own. Gatlin Sanders was 2-for-4 in the game as well and has three-straight games with two hits. Catcher Joe Powell hit a three-run home run, his second of the weekend before leaving the game in the seventh with an apparent injury.

For Hines, his homer was the third of the weekend and he has four hits, three homers, one double and seven RBI in the first two games.

A 25-run game one didn’t run the gas out of the tank for the Bulldogs. State scored five runs in the first inning and another three in the second to chase starter Tony Neubeck. He pitched just 2.0 innings, surrendered seven hits and eight runs.

“I think it’s game planning and focus. We have so much information and technology these days. We know so much about all of these guys and they know so much about us. Just putting some great at bats early and not letting the starter settle in is the big part. We’ve done a nice job of that the last three weeks.”

On the State mound, Evan Siary didn’t replicate his game against Ole Miss, but he kept the Tigers at bay. Siary lasted just 3.2 innings with four hits, three runs, two walks and six strikeouts. He left the game for Ben Davis with runners at the corners and two outs with Mizzou’s best hitter Jackson Lovich at the plate.

Davis got a strikeout and would roll from there. He retired the first seven batters he faced and allowed zero runs on one hit and one walk with five strikeouts.

“I thought Evan was good. I thought they were a little more patient than (Ole Miss),” Parker said of Siary. “I felt like the big momentum was to bring in Ben and strand that runner against one of the better hitters in the league. We can pitch better, but we’re pitching tough right now.”

Up Next

State (33-20, 14-15 SEC) has now clawed its way into locking up a Regional. The Bulldogs will be projected to make postseason next week, but Saturday could leave no doubt. It also is a chance for MSU to come from 7-14 in league play to .500.

The Diamond Dawgs are winners of eight of the last nine games and three-straight weekend series. They go for the second series sweep during that stretch on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“The motivation is to finish,” Parker said of game three. “We were in the same spot last season winning the first two and just didn’t finish. So we want to come out and play with that same intensity on (Saturday).”