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Cardiac Dawgs take game one from Ole Miss, 5-4

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk03/28/26RobbieFaulkOn3

Mississippi State’s offense has shown the ability all season long to strike at any moment and the Diamond Dawgs couldn’t have picked a better time than they did on Friday night at Ole Miss.

In game one of the three-game matchup against No. 18 Ole Miss, No. 6 MSU was down to its final three outs and trailing 4-3. After getting the first two in scoring position and then tying the game, pinch hitter Chone James came through with an RBI triple to right field and State would get a 5-4 lead that they would keep to steal the opener.

State had to come from behind because of its own doing. After getting out to a 3-1 lead and getting to two outs in the seventh, reliever Ben Davis walked two batters and paid for it as Austin Fawley would hit a three-run home run to left field to get the Rebels a 4-3 advantage.

Down to the last three outs, Ryder Woodson got things started with a leadoff single in the ninth and Bryce Chance followed with a double that put two in scoring position without an out. Freshman Jacob Parker grounded one to the right side to tie the game and James came in as a pinch hitter.

After getting in the hole 1-2, James would deliver a line drive to right field that got by the defender and all the way to the wall for a triple. The game-winning run would hold up as Tyler Pitzer (2-1) pitched a perfect ninth. Pitzer threw 2.0 innings and retired all four that he faced with four strikeouts.

The Diamond Dawgs knew that offense was going to be at a premium with Hunter Elliot and Ole Miss’ top available arms, but State again found away with the bats. Two innings would get the job done starting with knocking Elliot out of the game in the sixth.

The Ole Miss ace was cruising through the Bulldog lineup for the first five innings before the Bulldogs broke through.

With one out, a hit from Drew Wyers opened the door for a good inning. Ace Reese delivered an RBI single, Noah Sullivan had an RBI double and Ryder Woodson had an infield single that scored another to get a lead of 3-1.

Sending Elliot packing with the lead was a major win for O’Connor and the Bulldogs. Though Elliot had surrendered just one hit and no runs through the first 5.0, Foster’s work had the Bulldogs right in the middle of it. Ryan McPherson’s forearm injury last week caused a change in the rotation with the sophomore lefty Foster getting the nod this week.

After retiring the first 10 batters that he saw, Foster gave up a solo home run to Judd Utermark but came back to get out of the inning. When the dust settled, Utermark would be one of only two that would reach against Foster as he threw 4.2, gave up two hits, one run, walked no batters and struck out three.

Behind him, Jack Gleason, Maddox Webb did their jobs. Gleason gave up a hit and got two outs while Webb retired all three he faced with two strikeouts. But in the seventh, things unraveled for Davis.

State’s offense would bail out the Bulldog pitcher in the ninth and continued to prove how clutch the team has been. The Bulldogs had 2-for-4 showings from Woodson and Chance as they were batting by each other in the lineup with O’Connor moving Chance to sixth in the lineup.

The offense struck out 10 times and walked three times against Elliot, Taylor Rabe and Walker Hooks, three of the top pitchers on the Ole Miss staff.

With the win in tow, State (22-4, 5-2 SEC) will try to take the series over the next two days with the top two available starters. The Bulldogs start LHP Tomas Valincius on Saturday against the Rebels with a 1 p.m. first pitch scheduled at Swayze Field. The Bulldogs are looking to snap a streak of four straight years of the winner of the series losing the opening game.

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