No. 13 Mississippi State Loses Nervy Game 3 to No. 10 Aggies
The regular season came to an end for No. 13 Mississippi State on Saturday. They dropped the final two games of the series for the second week in a row, falling 7-6 to No. 10 Texas A&M.
Ryan McPherson made his second start since returning from injury and posted two zeros on the board before exiting in the third inning. He was throwing heat, and showed flashes of what he was dealing pre-injury. He got a big strikeout to end the second inning after walking two, but the walks continued in the third as he struggled to find the zone.
McPherson ended the day with three punchouts, four walks and one earned run from 2.1 innings of work, hitting 44 pitches. It was likely a bit sooner than he would have liked to leave, based on his reaction to the change, but Dane Burns limited the damage to just one run.
The Aggies added two more in the fourth inning after State had pulled level, but a three-run fourth inning saw the Bulldogs wake up and get on top for the first time on the day. Ryder Woodson got things going with a base hit and got home on a two-run homer by Ace Reese.
The Bulldog third baseman got into a battle with Aggie pitcher Gavin Lyons, fouling off several balls before finding the right pitch. Noah Sullivan then made it back-to-back home runs off of Lyons with a solo shot to put the Bulldogs up 4-3.
The Aggies would get back on top after knocking out Tyler Pitzer, leading 5-4 going into the eighth inning, but the Bulldogs responded under pressure again. Noah Sullivan ripped a leadoff base hit off of Clayton Freshcorn, who threw despite reaching 50+ pitches the night before, and freshman Jacob Parker launched a two-run homer to put the Bulldogs up 6-5.
Bulldogs head coach Brian O’Connor turned to two of his few remaining fresh arms with extensive experience this season. Charlie Foster, who relieved Pitzer, became the pitcher of record and trotted out for the bottom of the eighth to face Caden Sorrell. He walked the home run king for the hosts, and gave up a pair of hits to put the Aggies back in front 7-6.
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The teams were like tired fighters trading blows, with both bullpens dealing with high-stress at-bats and struggling to hold onto momentum generated offensively. It was going to take a big break to establish distance at the end, and the Aggies looked to do just that in the eighth. Another drive into left field put two in scoring position with just one gone.
O’Connor turned to Jack Gleason out of the bullpen, his first action of the series. He gave up the 13th walk of the day for the Bulldogs, but ended the inning with just a one-run deficit to give his team one last chance.
The first two batters went down to put it all on the top of the order with two gone. Gehrig Frei got a base hit to send Reese to the plate in search of a lifeline. The junior went for power against Freshcorn, but flew out to left to end the game and series.
With just three wins from the final nine SEC games, and three straight split losses, the prospect of hosting throughout the tournament is all but gone. Beyond that, MSU’s shortcomings when playing in tight, high-pressure contests were once again on display. Two chances to win the series on the road against a limited bullpen came and went.
