Starkville - Jack Dougherty walked into Dudy Noble Field having struggled in SEC play thus far, but the Ole Miss righty rose to the occasion in front of 14,379 fans to lead the Rebels to a 3-2 victory over Mississippi State.
Dougherty, a junior from Collierville, Tennessee, entered Friday's contest with a 6.57 ERA in 37 innings this season. In a game that the two bottom teams at the SEC West standings needed, Dougherty pitched his A-game. In six innings against Mississippi State hitters, he allowed only two hits and one run while striking out four and walking one.
"You have to tip your hat to their starter and their pen, but we didn’t do enough offensively," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "Not enough good at-bats. Too many at-bats where it was one-pitch outs to start the inning. We’ve been really good offensively. We’ve had struggles with some other things, but the offense has been pretty consistent. Just didn’t have a good night tonight. Too many guys had nights where they don’t contribute anything."
The lone run Dougherty surrendered came via a solo homer by Mississippi State freshman Dakota Jordan in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jordan smoked one ten feet to the left of the foul pole on the first pitch of the at-bat, but he continued to stay locked in and carried a breaking ball into the Left Field Lounge in a 2-2 count.
"I knew they were gonna feed my sliders away and try to make me chase," Jordan said. "I was on the fastball and he was a two-pitch guy. I had the confidence in myself he can't blow it by you, so just sit on one pitch."
The Rebels also ran into a few pitches for solo homers, despite Mississippi State pitchers having arguably their most efficient night of the 2023 season. Junior Cade Smith gave the Bulldogs four solid innings to start, but Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, a projected first-round pick for the 2023 MLB Draft, smoked one over the wall in right-center in the top of the third.
Northeast Mississippi C.C. transfer Colby Holcombe also gave the Bulldogs a competitive outing. The righty touting a fastball that touched 97 MPH allowed only two base runners across the fifth and sixth and worked out of a jam in the seventh with two on and one out. He got Gonzalez to pop up and striking out Ole Miss catcher Calvin Harris, who leads the Rebels with a .387 batting average.
As Holcombe went back out for the eighth, Ole Miss had their best hitter at the plate in left fielder Kemp Alderman who entered the weekend with a 1.183 OPS and 14 home runs. Alderman exploded number 15 by taking a Holcombe slider opposite field to put the Rebels up 2-1.
Senior KC Hunt came in for Holcombe after Ole Miss 1st baseman Anthony Calarco doubled off the right field wall. The righty from Wyckoff, New Jersey got the Bulldogs out of the inning with a groundout and two strikeouts, including one against Rebel 2nd baseman Peyton Chatagnier for a fourth time to give him the golden sombrero.
Hunt, however, ran into some bad luck in the top of the ninth. Left-handed hitting right fielder T.J. McCants led off with a bunt single to beat the shift, and he stole 2nd with one out on a breaking ball which gave Bulldog catcher Ross Highfill no chance to get him. Hunt managed to strike out Gonzalez, but Harris found the hole on the groundball up the middle to drive in McCants and give the Rebels a 3-1 lead.
The Mississippi State bats didn't get much better as Ole Miss turned to right-hander Mitchel Murrell in the seventh. Murrell retired the first eight batters he faced with a slider that forced the Bulldog hitters to chase.
"It’s just a good slider. He throws it 80 percent of the time," Lemonis said. "We knew it. We went out there and fished for it a little too much, too early. Making him throw the ball up in the zone more, we’d have been a little more effective."
With two outs in the ninth, Mississippi State designated hitter Hunter Hines clobbered his 15th homer of the season on a 1-2 slider that was left too high, but Jordan would strike out to end the ballgame after battling for a 3-2 count.
"I wanted to be up there. I was just saying 'Hunter get me up there," Jordan said. "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."
Right-handed senior Landon Gartman will start for the Bulldogs tomorrow as they looked to even up the series, while junior lefty Xavier Rivas will take the mound for the Rebels.
