Pitching gives State a chance to pull away late in 5-1 Governor's Cup win over Ole Miss
For a second-straight year, Mississippi State allowed just one run in the Governor’s Cup matchup against Ole Miss in Pearl.
A tight game heading into the eighth inning, State crushed the Rebels late with four runs in the inning. That would lead the Bulldogs to a 5-1 victory and evened up the season series with the Rebels at 2-2.
It was State’s second-straight Governor’s Cup win and the Bulldogs have now won six of the last seven in the midweek series against the Rebels.
Pico Kohn gave MSU a great start with 4.0 innings of four-hit ball, one run surrendered, zero walks and five strikeouts. The Bulldog bullpen shut down the Rebels as well with Karson Ligon, Cam Schuelke, Tyler Davis and Tyson Hardin piecing together the final 5.0 innings with just one hit surrendered and no runs while striking out nine.
“We need them all on Friday,” coach Chris Lemonis said after the game on MSU radio. “I thought they did a great job. Pico was great coming out and I thought they did a great job on a short leash. They pitched great and really took care of business.”
Ole Miss did a good job of keeping State off the board a good portion of the ball game, but State pitching would win out. Specifically, it was Davis and Hardin that continued a remarkable turnaround from a year ago.
After having a combined ERA over 10.00 runs last season with 71 hits and 51 runs surrendered in 42.1 innings in 2023, the two have combined for a 7-0 record, four saves, and an incredible 1.82 ERA in 49.1 innings this season with 39 hits and just 10 earned runs.
The duo pitched the final 2.1 innings and allowed just a hit and a walk with five strikeouts as Davis improved to 4-0 on the year. They have been a part of a win and/or a save in four of the last five wins against SEC competition.
Davis got his lead in the eighth inning on Wednesday night with some patient at bats from State and a few miscues from the Rebels. A one-out hit batter in Connor Hujsak would end up all the way on third base after a wild pitch moved him there.
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With runners at the corners, Logan Kohler got on first base via an error and scored a run. Bryce Chance would later walk and score a run and then David Mershon broke the game open by doubling home two runs for the 5-1 lead.
Hardin allowed a couple of base runners in the ninth but struck out Jackson Ross to end the game.
State out-hit the Rebels 11-5 in the ball game with Ole Miss’ only run coming on a Judd Utermark solo home run in the second inning.
Dakota Jordan led the Bulldogs at the plate going 3-for-5 while Hunter Hines had his second two-hit game in the last three contests with a 2-for-4 night and one RBI. Mershon led the team with two RBI.
“The ballpark doesn’t play super offensive,” Lemonis said. “I thought we hit a lot of balls hard early. We kept battling. I give our guys a lot of credit and we were able to break through.”
The Bulldogs (30-15, 12-9 SEC) are suddenly gaining buzz as projected Regional hosts for the NCAA postseason, but important games continue. With eight wins in the last nine games since dropping the Ole Miss series, State will try to continue to build that resume this weekend with a three-game homestand against Alabama beginning on Friday night at 6 p.m.
“They feel good, and they know they’re getting better,” Lemonis said. “Alabama is playing good also. It’s a huge series for us. It puts us in a really good situation if we do. We need to build a resume. We’ve just got to keep building.
State will also play on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
