Starkville, MS- Mississippi State came up one inch short of a potential sweep, as Matt Corder was thrown out at home plate on the final play, giving #17 Auburn a 3-2 victory,
Cade Smith had his best start as a Bulldog tonight, pitching six innings of shutout ball. With the wind blowing in, the sophomore from Southaven did an excellent job of pitching to contact and trusting defense, forcing six flyouts.
Auburn Starter Joseph Gonzalez gave the Mississippi State lineup all they could handle. Last season, Gonzalez failed to get out of the first inning against the Bulldogs, as the Mississippi State lineup scored nine runs off of him in 0.2 innings, but things went much differently this year for the Puerto Rican sinkerballer. Gonzalez held Mississippi State to seven hits in eight innings and consistently threw strikes surrendering no walks. A couple of mistake pitches in the second inning led to solo homers by Kellum Clark and Hunter Hines, but that was all the Bulldog offense could get.
Jackson Fristoe relieved Smith in the seventh, and a hit batter followed by an RBI double by Auburn centerfielder Kason Howell quickly cut the Mississippi State lead in half. A chopper to the left side by DH Cam Hill gave Lane Forsythe and Slate Alford some trouble, and it got through to the outfield as Forsythe went for a barehanded stop and tied the game up.
Fristoe forced a ground ball to the right side to start the eighth, but a misplay by RJ Yeager allowed Auburn right fielder Bobby Peirce to reach safely. After a sac-bunt to move the runner, Mississippi State turned to freshman left-hander Pico Kohn who immediately gave up a double to Auburn pinch-hitter Brooks Carlson. Carlson had started the first two games of the series at DH but delivered off the bench today, giving Auburn a 3-2 lead.
Kohn kept things clean and shut them down for the rest of the eight and in the ninth, giving the Bulldogs one last chance to put a run across. Hunter Hines led off the inning by working a full count and drawing a walk and would be pinch-ran for by Matt Corder. Brayland Skinner, who had entered as a pinch-runner earlier in the game, was due up, and he would be pinch-hit for by freshman Downs, who dropped a perfect sac bunt to move Corder to 2nd. Kellum Clark struck out, and State found themselves down to their last out. Brad Cumbest delivered a single into left field, but a perfect throw by Bryson Ware gunned Corder down at home plate to end the ballgame.
Despite the loss, State came away with a much-needed series win over a red hot team ranked in the top 25. The Bulldogs will take on Jackson State on Tuesday before traveling up to Oxford for a three-game series with Ole Miss next Thursday.
