Oxford, MS- Mississippi State got off to a cold start, but the offense came through in the late innings to close out a 10-7 win over rival Ole Miss.
The Bulldogs struck first as Luke Hancock took Ole Miss lefty Hunter Elliot deep in the top of the first. State, however, has struggled to get the big hit with men on base as of late, as Hancock's homer makes Mississippi State's last five homers all solo shots.
Ole Miss had no problem teeing off on Mississippi State starter Preston Johnson, leading off with consecutive home runs to 3rd baseman Justin Bench, All-American shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, and All-SEC 1st Baseman Tim Elko to start the game. The long balls didn't end there for the Rebels as 2nd baseman Peyton Chtagnier led off the 2nd inning with a homer over the left-field wall.
Johnson would settle in after that, pitching three scoreless frames, and exited after the fifth with nine strikeouts.
"The game goes to Preston Johnson," said Lemonis. "A lot of kids just tough getting run at that point. These guys are so competitive right now."
Elliot shut the Bulldog offense down through the fourth but had to come out as his pitch count was up to 100. When the Ole Miss bullpen came in, the Bulldog bats began to catch fire. A pair of doubles from Brad Cumbest and Jess Davis off Riley Maddox in the sixth got them going, and RJ Yeager drove in a run on a single to cut it to 4-3.
In the seventh, Logan Tanner hit his third single of the day off Ole Miss reliever Jack Dougherty and Mississippi State's star freshman Hunter Hines gave the Bulldogs a 5-4 lead with his 12th bomb of the season. A single by Brad Cumbest and a blast off the bat of sophomore Kellum Clark extended the State lead to 7-4.
Brad Cumbest kept the offense rolling in the eighth with an RBI double, and Jess Davis followed by knocking in a run on a groundout. Lane Forsythe had his first extra-base hit of the season as he doubled in the left-center gap, driving in Cumbest to extend the lead to 10-4.
Freshman Pico Kohn kept the Rebel offense quiet with two shutout innings in the sixth and seventh. The crafty lefty allowed a single and a walk to the first two hitters he faced but grinded out of it getting Jacob Gonzalez to ground into a double play and forcing the cleanup man Kemp Alderman to fly out.
"I'm just going out and playing my game," said Kohn.
KC Hunt came in to pitch the eighth with a six-run lead, and the Rebels made a game of it, scoring three runs on an RBI single by Jacob Gonzalez and a 2-run double by Kemp Alderman. The New Jersey native stayed strong as he shut Ole Miss down in the ninth to close out a win.
State will have a chance to take their sixth consecutive series from the Rebels in tomorrow's rubber match. Sophomore Cade Smith coming off six shutout innings against Auburn, will be on the bump for the Dawgs, and right-hander Derek Diamond will take the mound for Ole Miss.
