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Mississippi State

State survives 3-2 against Northeastern to keep season alive

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•06/01/25•

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Evan Siary (Photo by Mike Mattina, Mississippi State Athletics)

Things got dicey for Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon, but the Diamond Dawgs buckled down with their backs against the wall.

Despite a dominant performance from Evan Siary and an overwhelming advantage in hits, State let Northeastern hang around. The Huskies got the game to 3-2 and had the lead run at the plate in an elimination game at the Tallahassee Regional but State survived.

After a two-out single off of Stone Simmons,  pinch runner Carter Bentley took off for second base and was gunned down by catcher Joe Powell. That caught stealing would seal the win and send State to the Regional Final.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Bulldogs got the job done on Sunday. MSU outhit the Huskies 13-4 but routinely missed opportunities to get breathing room. The Bulldogs tagged starter Aiven Cabral for two runs and three hits in the first inning and would score just one more run in the fifth.

Cabral gave up nine hits but he limited damage in 4.0 innings to just the three runs. After that, Cooper McGrath and Brett Dunham threw the final 4.0 innings and surrendered two hits and two walks but State couldn’t score a run.

Against McGrath in the sixth, the bottom of the order got on base with two walks and a single with one out and then Gehrig Frei struck out and Ace Reese grounded out to deliver nothing that frame. State got runners at the corners in the 8th on singles from Powell and Lukas Buckner and again left runners stranded.

MSU left 11 runners on base but had a 3-for-4 performance for Frei and 2-for-3 game for Hunter Hines. It was the second-straight day with multiple hits for Hines who had three on Saturday against FSU ace Jamie Arnold. Powell and Buckner also finished with two hits.

State’s pitching kept them safe in the game. Siary delivered a strong start with 6.0 innings, three hits, two runs and nine strikeouts while walking no one. Simmons got his third save of the year with his 2.1 innings of relief. He gave up a hit and a walk and struck out two batters.

Simmons inherited a bit of a mess in the seventh as Nate Williams walked two batters and hit another with two outs to drive in a run. The senior Simmons calmly struck out the one batter he faced that frame on three pitches.

With the win, State (36-22) now must get two wins in a row against the host Seminoles to advance to a Super Regional. That begins on Sunday night at 5 p.m. CT. Karson Ligon will get the start for the Bulldogs and try to keep the season alive against LHP Wes Mendes (6-2, 4.93 ERA).

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