Thirty-six, that’s the number of consecutive innings Mississippi State has gone without giving up a run. The Bulldogs completed their fourth-straight shutout, defeating Eastern Michigan, 14-0.

“It’s been impressive,” Chris Lemonis said postgame. “We have a really good pitching staff. It’s just hard to score against us. We can match up with you in a lot of different ways, and right now, the game’s playing us the right way.”

Christian MacLeod’s starts so far this season haven’t been great. However, he was absolutely electric tonight. He struck out the side in the 1st. He did it again in the 2nd. He retired the side in order with strikeouts in the 3rd. He threw a scoreless 4th. He topped it off with a 1-2-3 frame in the 5th.

Five innings, one hit, no runs, 11 strikeouts for MacLeod.

“I definitely had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder,” MacLeod said. “I didn’t have my best outings to begin the season, and last weekend, I was pretty disappointed with how I went out there and didn’t give my best outing. But, I had a good bullpen with Coach Foxhall this week, and we worked on a few things. I was happy with the performance tonight.”

Meanwhile, the Bulldog bats did good things. After going down in order in the 1st, Logan Tanner notched the first run of the ballgame in the 2nd on an RBI single, scoring Kamren James. They tacked on three more in the 3rd. Tanner Allen doubled to right field to score Lane Forsythe, Kamren James grounded out to bring home Rowdey Jordan, and Luke Hancock plated Allen with an RBI double.

State added another trio of runs in the 5th. Rowdey Jordan led off with a double, and Tanner Allen brought him home with a single. After a Luke Hancock walk and a double-steal, Allen scored on a Logan Tanner groundout. Josh Hatcher proceeded to score Hancock with a double of his own. 7-0 Bulldogs.

In the 6th, Brandon Smith took over for MacLeod on the bump. Strikeout, strikeout, groundout to complete a 3-up, 3-down frame. In the bottom half, MSU extended its lead with a Kamren James sac fly to bring home Lane Forsythe.

Riley Self found time on the mound in the 7th, and he threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. Parker Stinett relived Self in the 8th, and he blazed through the inning with three consecutive strikeouts.

The Bulldogs held an 8-0 lead headed to the bottom of the 8th, and they added insult to injury. Brayden Skinner led off with a walk, and Kyte McDonald doubled to score him. Kamren James singled, bringing home McDonald. Then, a string of walks scored three more, plus an RBI groundout. MSU led, 14-0, three outs away from four-straight shutouts.

Spencer Price found his first action in over a week. He forced two groundouts and a fly out to wrap up the ballgame.

Mississippi State improves to 11-3 on the year and will be back in action for game two tomorrow at Dudy Noble Field.