Diamond Dawgs produce clean sweep on the week after 9-3 win over Queens

Last week’s disappointing week on the baseball diamond put the pressure on Mississippi State to perform this week.

The Diamond Dawgs dropped out of the top 25 after losing games to Troy, Arizona and Oklahoma State. After bouncing back on Tuesday with a 18-3 blowout of No. 20 Southern Miss, the Bulldogs swept Queens over the weekend.

State would take care of the Royals without much fanfare. After beating Queens by a combined 19-5 in the first two games, State came through with a 9-3 victory in game three to earn the sweep. The win got the Bulldogs a series sweep in all three of the home series in non-conference play.

“We got three great starts and I thought Karson (Ligon) was really good (Sunday) – looked mechanically back where he needs to be,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “Felt like after that first inning he got into a real flow of the game and just pitched. He had some really quick innings which was nice to see.”

Downs stays red hot at the plate

It was a weekend that saw the continuing emergence of Aaron Downs at the plate. After sitting the first two games of the week, Downs came into the starting lineup on Saturday and had three hits with two home runs and a double. He followed that with a 2-for-3 day on Sunday with two more long balls.

During the week, Downs was 5-for-7 with four home runs, seven RBI and two doubles. It gave the senior from Heritage Academy his team-leading seventh home run of the year after failing to hit a long ball in his first three seasons.

State finished out the weekend having 14 hits on Sunday with Downs being joined by Sawyer Reeves, Bryce Chance and Ross Highfill with two hits. Reeves performed well in his return to the lineup after Dylan Cupp’s injury on Friday night.

While Lemonis said that he doesn’t expect a lingering knee injury for Cupp, having Reeves show his capabilities at the position and at the plate is a good thing for a State team with depth. Reeves drove in a run and had a double while playing clean baseball in the field.

“I definitely feel comfortable. I played short stop in the past but I’ve played third and second growing up. Working there in pregame and in practice, I’m feeling good,” Reeves said. “Coach Lem always says next man up and you’ve got to be ready if you’re not in there when the lineup card is posted. When your time comes, make the best of it.”

The Bulldogs also had another strong start on Sunday. After Pico Kohn and Ben Davis delivered quality appearances, Ligon gave a solid performance after a tough start a week ago.

Ligon was moved to Sunday this week and he gave up a walk to lead off the game against Queens. After that, Ligon delivered 5.0 scoreless innings with just two hits and two walks and he struck out nine. It should be enough to keep him in the rotation next week against Texas.

After Ligon was a scoreless inning from Dane Burns. Kevin Mannell gave up a couple of hits and a walk in the sixth inning before settling in and he threw 2.0 innings giving up a run with two strikeouts. Freshman Cade O’Leary made his MSU debut in the ninth and gave up a run with three strikeouts.

“Coach (Justin Parker) says it all the time that if we’re winning the game in the fifth or sixth inning and hand the ball off to the bullpen, there’s really not a chance of that other team getting back into the ball game because that bullpen is so deep,” Ligon said. “It’s really awesome.”

Up Next

It was a productive week and that was a must for State after falling to 7-4 through the first 12 games. Now 11-4, the Diamond Dawgs have a challenging week ahead. State has five games in six days on the way with a trip to Biloxi coming midweek.

MSU goes to the home of the Biloxi Shuckers and plays Old Dominion at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and Nicholls at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Both games can be seen on ESPN+. State will wrap up the week with the first SEC series hosting No. 12 Texas.