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Big seventh inning dooms Bulldogs in 8-7 loss to No. 11 Texas

3rupauk8_400x400by:Robbie Faulk•03/14/25•

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Noah Sullivan (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

A two-run lead in the middle innings wasn’t enough for a Mississippi State bullpen that had been a strength so far this year.

Leading 5-3 in the seventh inning, the Diamond Dawgs allowed the first five batters to reach and gave up a three-run home run to lose that lead. State wouldn’t get back in that ball game from there and the No. 11 Texas Longhorns took game one of the series, 8-7.

The win was the 15th in a row for the Longhorns (15-1, 1-0 SEC) while the Bulldogs (13-5, 0-1 SEC) had a six-game winning streak snapped.  

Kohn, Hungate give up big seventh frame

It was a disastrous seventh inning that would take the Bulldogs out in game one of the series. Starter Pico Kohn had cruised through the Texas lineup most of the way through but hit a batter and gave up a single to start the inning.

Noted ground ball pitcher Chase Hungate came in to try and get the Bulldogs out of the jam and instead would give up back-to-back singles to tie the game. That was followed by a three-run home run to left field that changed the game in a hurry and made it 8-5 Texas.

Hungate got just one out as he faced five batters and it was the first runs he surrendered all year. The Virginia transfer gave up four hits and three runs and spoiled Kohn’s solid start.

Though the junior Kohn gave up five runs in the game, four of those were earned and he only allowed three hits in 6.0 innings. Kohn struck out six batters, walked one and hit another.

After getting down early in the ball game with a two-run home run in the second, Kohn had settled in during the game. He allowed just two base runners and one hit over the course of the next 5.0 innings.

In the meantime, State was able to get a lead. The Bulldogs came back from giving up a two-run shot in the second by scoring four runs that inning. Noah Sullivan hit a solo shot and then Ross Highfill managed a three-run homer to make it a 4-2 lead for the Bulldogs.

Highfill came back in the sixth and provided more help. After the catcher threw a ball into the outfield to allow a run to score, he came through with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the frame to get that run back.

Unfortunately for Kohn and the Bulldogs, State couldn’t get the shutdown inning that it needed. Andre Duplantier II did his job after the five-spot in the seventh and retired eight-straight bats, but the Bulldogs did make some noise.

State had two base runners with two outs and got a two-run double on an 0-2 pitch from Ace Reese. Noah Sullivan came up to the plate and grounded out to end the threat.

The Bulldogs finished the game with nine hits offensively with Sullivan leading the way in a 3-for-5 game. Sullivan was a triple shy of the cycle and had a double, home run and RBI with two runs scored. Highfill drove in four of the five runs in the game and was 2-for-3 while Gatlin Sanders finished 2-for-4.

While Kohn and Hungate couldn’t get the job done, State did get a solid finish to the game. Luke Dotson threw 1.2 scoreless frames with just one hit, no runs, no walks and three strikeouts. Stone Simmons pitched the ninth and was unscathed with two strikeouts.

State will now await word for game two of the series. Severe storms are expected to impact the Starkville area for most of the day on Saturday and it has put day two in jeopardy. A likely Sunday double-header could be on the way as fans await the team’s announcement.

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