It was a brutal day for Mississippi State baseball. With the buildup of the first SEC home series in almost two years surrounding the team, the Bulldogs did not deliver on Friday night, falling 8-2 to Arkansas.

“We never put pressure on them,” Chris Lemonis said postgame. “They never had to play with any fear. They played with the lead the entire game; they had it on cruise control and just rolled us.”

Christian MacLeod, absolutely lights out against LSU last week, was quite the opposite tonight. He struck out his first batter, and things looked okay. Then, a home run to right field. Then, a home run to left field. After a pop out, another home run to right field. Before the Bulldogs could blink, they were down 3-0.

After State went down in order in the bottom half, MacLeod got back into the groove of things with a 1-2-3 frame. In the bottom of the 2nd, MSU stranded two runners.

Headed to the 3rd, MacLeod worked around a leadoff single to throw a scoreless inning. In the bottom half, State didn’t get anything across.

Seemingly in the groove of things in the prior two innings, MacLeod gave up his fourth bomb of the game, extending the Razorback lead to 4-0. He proceeded to give up a walk, a single, and another walk before a sac fly scored another run. That made it 5-0 Arkansas and MacLeod was taken out after his worst start as a Bulldog.

“I think his stuff was a little down today,” Lemonis said. “He just wasn’t as sharp as he was last weekend, and when you’re not sharp and don’t make good pitches to good hitters, that’s what happens. They were able to get on him in the 1st and set the tone for the night.”

Stone Simmons replaced MacLeod and got the final out of the inning. State went down in order in the bottom of the 4th.

Simmons went back out in the 5th and forced three-straight groundouts. In the bottom half, the Bulldogs were finally able to get a run across thanks to a Rowdey Jordan RBI single to score Lane Forsythe. 5-1 Razorbacks through five.

Simmons continued to deal, retiring the side in order again. The Bulldog bats, however, also went down in order.

In the 7th, Arkansas added insult to injury. With men on 1st and 2nd, Chase Patrick relieved Simmons on the mound and gave up an RBI single. After a fly-out, another single scored a run. The Razorbacks led, 7-1, and MSU went down in order again.

Riley Self faced two batters before an injury caused him to leave the game. Cam Tullar struck out the next two to end the inning. State’s offense? Scoreless.

Arkansas added another run in the 9th on an RBI single. Lane Forsythe singled to score a run in the bottom half, but that was all, concluding an ugly loss.

Mississippi State drops to 17-5 (2-2) on the year and will look to rebound against the Razorbacks in game two of the series tomorrow.