Tuscaloosa, AL - Clutch hitting from freshmen Ross Highfill and Dakota Jordan, and four dominant innings in relief from Nate Dohm propelled Mississippi State to an 8-4 win over Alabama and their first series victory of SEC play.

The Bulldogs trailed 4-3 through six innings after a pair of quality starts from both starting pitchers. Memphis transfer Landon Gartman toed the rubber for Mississippi State and worked his way out of a rough first inning where the Bulldogs' defense committed two errors to help two Alabama runs across. The senior right-hander followed with three shutout innings before finally giving up his first earned run on a towering two-run homer from Crimson Tide 1st baseman Drew Williamson in the fifth.

Alabama lefty Grayson Hitt also put together a solid start but Bulldog designated hitter Hunter Hines slugged the 14th homer of his sophomore season and 30th of his college career in the top of the first after 2nd baseman Amani Larry led off with a walk. The junior fanned nine Mississippi State hitters in six innings, and the Bulldogs only scratched one across during Hitt's final five frames as Larry scored on a wild pitch in the third.

Mississippi State senior KC Hunt helped bridge the gap after Gartman was taken out in the fifth inning with a man on first and two outs. The Wyckoff, New Jersey native allowed a single to Bama right fielder Tommy Seidl in his first batter faced but got 3rd baseman Colby Shelton to strike out to end the inning and limit the damage done by Williamson's homer.

"It was great, and he had great stuff," Head Coach Chris Lemonis said. "KC’s turning out to be one of our better middle-inning guys. He can come in and get us out of a jam."

Dohm took over for the Bulldogs in the sixth, and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way on the mound as the Ball State transfer allowed only three hits with no free passes over the final four innings. The powerful right-hander only struck out two Crimson Tide batters, but he did an excellent job trusting his defense who made up for their first-inning woes.

"They were reading fly balls really well," Dohm said of the Mississippi State defense. "I'm more of a fly ball pitcher, and the goal is just to limit pitch count and work as efficiently as possible so you have your best stuff throughout your outing."

Jordan made a circus catch on a line drive at the left field warning track in the third inning, while 3rd baseman Slate Alford and shortstop Lane Forsythe each made a pair of diving stops for inning-ending groundouts in the fourth and eighth innings.

"I told them ‘What a bad first.’ After that, we made a lot of great plays from everybody, not just one guy. It was across the board," Lemonis said.

Jordan didn't just flash the leather in the field but made his presence felt with the bat as the freshman from Canton, Mississippi extended his hitting streak to eight games with a pair of doubles. The first of which gave Mississippi State a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning to score Larry who had singled, but the Bulldogs wouldn't have been in that position without his former travel ball teammate Highfill.

Highfill, a freshman from Madison Central High School, followed up his two-homer Thursday night with a monstrous 442-foot solo shot to clear the batter's eye in centerfield off Alabama reliever Aidan Moza, giving the catcher his eighth of the season.

"Those are pretty special freshmen," Lemonis said. "They’ve had their ups and downs, but they’re maturing every day. That ball Ross Highfill hit, that was impressive. Then, Dakota had ones too. He’s playing like he did all fall for us, getting more comfortable."

"We've been playing together since we were about four or five years old," Jordan said. "Just growing up playing with Ross, it's a lot of fun to see us both doing good, doing what we love. We dreamed of this moment."

While Dohm continued to dominate the Alabama order, State's offense added some insurance runs. Kellum Clark belted a 2 run homer in the eighth, his ninth of the season. In the ninth, Dakota Jordan scored on a passed ball after roping his second double of the game and being moved to third on a groundout by Luke Hancock.

"When it's a one-run game you still kind of feel that pressure on yourself to keep the team in the game, and whenever you see a three-run lead you're like 'I can do this with ease," Dohm said.

Mississippi State will be back in action Tuesday at UAB before kicking off Super Bulldog Weekend with a three-game series against Ole Miss.