Starkville - On Friday, Mississippi State freshman Dakota Jordan had a chance to keep the game alive in a 5-4 ballgame. Instead, Jordan struck out to end the game as Ole Miss took the series opener. The Canton, Mississippi native was eager for the moment, but he didn't get the job done.
"Michael Jordan always wanted to be that guy that saved the game and make a big shot. He failed a lot. I wanted to be the guy to get the job done but it didn't happen, so move on to the next," Jordan said.
The Bulldog cleanup hitter had a chance to flip the script on Saturday with the bases loaded, and he delivered. Nate Dohm had given up two Rebel runs in the top of the ninth, but Ole Miss rookie reliever Sam Tookoian walked State's two hottest hitters in centerfielder Colton Ledbetter and designated hitter Hunter Hines in the bottom of the frame to load the bases. After taking the first two pitches for balls, Jordan delivered a walk-off single on a hard-hit grounder between the Ole Miss 3rd baseman and shortstop to give Mississippi State an 8-7 win in front of an NCAA Record 16,423 fans at Dudy Noble Field.
"My approach going up there was telling myself that they're not getting me again. Being a hard-nosed guy you do whatever you got to do to get the job done," Jordan said. "Just going up there and letting the crowd get to them. They were on our side of course, and he couldn't throw any pitches for strikes and I was just waiting to get one pitch. I was in a two-strike approach the whole at-bat."
It wasn’t just the heroics of Jordan that put the stamp on a Mississippi State win. They had to climb back from down from 5-2 in the middle innings as a pair of runs on a Kellum Clark double and a Ross Highfill sac fly in the second inning were all they managed through five innings.
Bulldog starter Landon Gartman gave up his only two runs of his four inning start in the second. Rebel designated hitter Will Furniss drove in a run on a single, and centerfielder Ethan Groff hit a grounder that Bulldog shortstop Lane Forsythe failed to field to bring home another. Ole Miss first baseman Anthony Calarco hit a solo homer off Mississippi State lefty Graham Yntema in the 5th, and right fielder T.J. McCants, Groff, and shortstop Jacob Gonzalez strung together three consecutive two-outs hits in the sixth to bring home another pair.
Ledbetter began the rally against Ole Miss starter Xavier Rivas in the sixth with a solo home run, and Hines followed with a towering homer onto Adkerson Plaza to cut it to 5-4. Switch-hitting freshman David Mershon, who got the start at 2nd base and led off, sparked a two-out rally against Ole Miss freshman Brayden Jones in the seventh with a double in the right-center gap. Ledbetter battled against Jones with three foul balls to force a 3-2 count, and the Samford transfer was ready for the slider as he golfed one below the strike zone over the right field wall to put the Bulldogs up 6-5.
"He just kept throwing me those sliders over the plate," Ledbetter said. "I was seeing it well. Went down and got it. I knew I could hit it, and it just happened to go out."
Texas transfer Aaron Nixon pitched a 1-2-3 frame in the seventh to get the ball to Dohm who held the Rebels scoreless in the eighth. Even though Dohm allowed two runs across on three hits in the top of the ninth against the top of the Ole Miss lineup, Mississippi State had the confidence that they'd get the job done with the top of their order due up as well.
"Even when they got that run to go up late, I knew we were gonna win it," Ledbetter said. "With the biggest crowd, you know we had to pull it out."
A pair of freshmen will take the mound in Sunday's rubber match with Jurrangelo Cijtnje going for the Bulldogs while J.T. Quinn will pitch for the Rebels.
