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Bulldogs take high-scoring Game 1 win over Aggies

Mississippi State beat writer Colin Dammsby: Colin Damms05/15/26Colintheshots95

Mississippi State baseball got back in the win column in SEC play on Thursday. The No. 13 Bulldogs battered No. 10 Texas A&M 18-11 in College Station to kick off a big series to end the regular season. The prolific offense of the Aggies was on display, but MSU matched with its highest scoring SEC outing of the season.

The hosts got on the board with home runs from two of the first three hitters. Gavin Grahovac and Chris Hacopian lived up to their team’s reputation as one of the best home run-hitting teams in the country. They put the Aggies up with solo shots off of starter Tomas Valincius. The top Bulldog arm had to settle in a bit to do damage control, but it wasn’t long before his offense lent him a hand.

The Bulldog batting order turned over just after knocking starter Ethan Darden out of the game in the third inning. Vytas Valincius, Kevin Milewski and Ryder Woodson each made it aboard when top Aggie reliever Gavin Lyons came out of the bullpen. Gehrig Frei and Ace Reese did their job the second time through to give MSU the lead, but it wasn’t done yet.

Noah Sullivan kept the hitting party going with an RBI base hit, and freshman Jacob Parker launched his 12th home run of the season to make it 7-2.

And still they weren’t done. The order came all the way back around with RBI hits from Valincius, Sullivan, and Parker again on top of a Kevin Milewski two-run home run. The Bulldogs had scored 13 runs off of four different pitchers by the end of the third inning to take firm control of the contest.

Valincius the younger, the starting pitcher, would make it through five innings for the Bulldogs. Tyler Pitzer came out of the bullpen and took charge into the final innings of action.

The Aggies wouldn’t go away to allow a run-rule. Jorian Wilson and Jake Duer each added runs, and Bear Harrison kept the game alive with a run in the seventh to avoid the early end to the evening. His RBI hit came after a fielding error by Aidan Teel on a flyball allowed an easy out to turn into a triple. A ground-rule double from Grahovac got another run home in the eighth inning, and yet another error by Teel allowed the Aggies to cut the lead to six.

At 17-11 there was still a threat of one swing changing the game, and closer Maddox Webb had to come out of the bullpen to get the final out of the eighth.

The Bulldogs finally closed out the win 18-11 after adding a sac fly RBI from Chone James, but it cost an inning of work each from Maddox Webb and Ben Davis. Both pitchers will likely be available again this series, but no doubt the team would have preferred a cleaner end to the contest.

Game Two will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday.

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