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Six State pitchers take care of Samford in 6-1 victory

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•03/25/25•

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dane burns
Dane Burns (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

Mississippi State is trying to find its way to clean baseball as another top 10 series is on the way this weekend.

That clean baseball didn’t come on Tuesday night against Samford, but State fought through it on the mound and had some big hits to secure a 6-1 win.

MSU had two errors in the game, hit three batters and walked two more, but the six players that took the mound managed to overpower Samford hitters. Noah Sullivan started the game and gave State 2.0 scoreless innings with a walk and strikeout.

Six pitchers dominate Samford lineup for 14 strikeouts

Kevin Mannell, Dane Burns, Mikhai Grant, Ben Davis and Nate Williams followed and allowed just one unearned run and one walk between them. State pitchers struck out 14 batters in the game and surrendered just five hits.

The only real trouble the group would face in the game came in the seventh when Grant got himself in trouble with two hit batters and a single. The freshman right hander worked out of it by striking out the side and leaving them stranded.

“We wanted Nate to have some feel good and Ben to have some feel good and we’ve got to get Dane Burns and Mikhai out there more,” coach Chris Lemonis said. “We were very adamant that we were going to let them run out there and have a good inning and you’re hoping that they do after their performance.”

At the plate, the State offense delivered two big hits to get the comfortable win. After Gatlin Sanders got State a sacrifice fly for the first run in the second and Samford tied it in the third at 1, MSU would finally come through with a big hit in the fourth.

Dylan Cupp put together a strong two-out at bat and worked a walk to load the bases and nine-hole hitter Joe Powell’s eight-pitch at bat ended with a two-run single. A wild pitch scored another to make it 4-1.

Powell was in the lineup for the third-straight game after starting catcher Ross Highfill was hit in the nose by a pitch against Oklahoma last Friday. Powell threw out a runner and had another potential caught stealing before a batter’s interference.

“Ross goes down and it’s next man up,” Powell said. “He’s recovering well, but getting some at bats and getting comfortable, I’m just taking it one game at a time and doing what I can to help my team win.”

Hunter Hines would extend that lead in the seventh when he went to right center field for a two-run double to make it 6-1.

State finished with eight hits as a team with Sanders going 2-for-2 with an RBI and a double and Aaron Down finishing 2-for-4. Hines and Powell drove in two RBI each.

There were still scuffling moments from the offense and some missed opportunities present that didn’t please the coach. State had three double plays in the game and missed some chances to score.

“Not super fired up. I don’t know what it was tonight,” Lemonis said of the offense. “We’ve been pretty good lately offensively, but I didn’t think we were great. The double plays, the pitch selection; I really challenged them on the focus level.

“Sometimes you get in this SEC where you’re playing three big ones on the weekend and then you’re playing on Tuesday night and playing another three and you’ve got to bring it every night. I thought we could have been a little bit better.”

A win moved State to 16-9 on the season and the Bulldogs now have to move on to another key SEC series. MSU travels to Baton Rouge on Thursday to start a three-game set against No. 8 LSU (23-3, 4-2 SEC).

The series begins on Thursday night at 7 p.m. on SEC Network. Friday’s matchup is set for 6:30 p.m. and Saturday’s game will be at 2 p.m.

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