Starkville, MS- Mississippi State welcomed a crowd of 13,351 today for game 2 of their opening series, but they went home disappointed as Long Beach State prevailed, winning 13-3.

Getting the start for Mississippi State today was junior KC Hunt. The righty from New Jersey struggled today, going just 3 innings and allowing 5 earned runs while striking out 4 and walking 2.

Hunt started out well striking out the first 2 hitters, but a single followed by a wild pitch allowed for Long Beach State to get on the board early. Junior right fielder Chase Luttrell stroked an RBI single to right field.

State would respond early on as Kamren James and Luke Hancock got them going with a single and a double off of Long Beach State starting pitcher Marques Johnson. Logan Tanner would score James on a ground ball, and Hunter Hines, a freshman from Madison Central, would knock in Hancock giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead after the first inning.

The struggles continued for Hunt in the second as he walked the leadoff man Sebastian Murillo, and then gave up a bunt single to designated hitter Kaden Moeller. Shortly after, sophomore center fielder Alex Pimentel homered to left field giving Long Beach State a 4-2 lead.

Hunt seemed to settle in during the 3rd inning allowing no additional damage. The Bulldogs got a run back in the bottom half as Logan Tanner knocked in Kamren James. Hunt faced just one batter in the 4th after issuing a leadoff walk.

Pitching Coach Scott Foxhall went with Cam Tullar, a lefty from Michigan to help keep State in the game, but the Dirtbags had no issues hitting off of Tullar. He would walk his first batter and then give up a single to freshman 2nd baseman Eddie Saldivar, who is off to a great start to his career going 5-9 in his first 2 games. Redshirt freshman Rocco Peppi would drive in 2 runs with a single, and left fielder Isaac Ramirez would follow that up with a 2 run double.

State quickly saw themselves down 8-3, but they had been able to get some hits off of starting pitcher Marques Johnson. The Bulldog hitters were seeing Johnson’s fastball a lot better than they were Ramirez’s sinker and slider combination the day prior, but Long Beach Skipper Eric Valenzuela made the switch to Jack Noble. When Noble came in, it was all she wrote for the Bulldog offense.

Noble, a junior righty from Upland, CA was a starter for the Dirtbags last season, pitching 12 games with a 2.79 ERA, but came out of the bullpen today dominating the Mississippi State lineup. Noble pitched 4.1 innings in relief, allowing just 3 hits, striking out 6, and walking just 1.

“He just pitched us backwards,” said junior 3rd baseman Kamren James. “He threw changeups in hitters counts and fastballs in pitchers counts.”

Junior righty Preston Johnson came in relief of Tullar, and had a solid outing going 4 innings. The Hinds C.C. product struck out 9 hitters, and allowed just one hit, a home run by Dirtbag 1st baseman Jonathan Long in the eighth inning. Johnson walked 4 hitters, including 3 in the 6th inning, but he was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam.

“Give him credit, he always competes out of it,” said Mississippi State Head Coach Chris Lemonis.

Ethan Clough, a junior from Temecula, CA relieved Noble and pitched the final 2 innings for the Dirtbags. He easily retired the Bulldog hitters, going 3 up, 3 down both innings.

With the game out of hand, Jack Walker, a freshman from Barbe, LA got the nod in the ninth for the Bulldogs. He got a little roughed up, giving up 4 runs, including a home run to 1st baseman Jonathan Long. The sophomore from Orange, CA is building off of an impressive freshman year where he batted .341, going 4-4 with 2 home runs today.

The loss today gives Long Beach State the series win, the first time Mississippi State has lost a home-series to a non-conference foe since they lost to San Diego in 2015.

“They’re good. A top 25, top 10, top 5 team, I don’t know but they’re really good,” said Chris Lemonis.

Mississippi State will get the chance to avoid the sweep tomorrow, as sophomore Cade Smith is set to start for the Bulldogs, and redshirt freshman Juaron Watts-Brown for the Dirtbags.