What started as another close contest between two in-state foes turned into a Bulldog bash in a mercy rule-shortened 18-3 win for Mississippi State (8-4) over No. 20 Southern Miss (9-4).
MSU started lightning fast in the bottom of the first, stringing together five base hits for a pair of runs off true freshman RHP Camden Sunstrom. The 2-0 lead was an advantage the home team would never relinquish.
While Southern Miss fought back with a single run in each of the next three frames, the Bulldogs’ break-out offensive display was just getting started. It was the second straight abysmal pitching and defensive outing for the Golden Eagles during midweek action after last week’s 15-8 loss to No. 17 Ole Miss in Oxford.
In the end, the line score read more like a Mississippi Lottery Powerball drawing than a baseball tally.
It was a season high in runs (18), hits (20), and home runs (5) for Mississippi State. As you might expect, it was also a season high in runs surrendered for the Golden Eagles – the most since an 18-11 loss to Louisiana Tech in 2024.
Five Bulldogs had multi-hit evenings, with DH Noah Sullivan (4-4, 3 RBI, 1 HR), 3B Ace Reese (3-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI), and RF Nolan Stevens (3-4, 3 RBI, 2 HR) leading the way.
Virginia transfer Chase Hungate (1-0) picked up the first win of his Bulldog career after 2.1 innings of scoreless relief after taking over for starter Jacob Pruitt.
Sixth-year senior Chandler Best (0-1) was saddled with his first loss of the season. He was one of eight arms used by head coach Christian Ostrander, seven of which gave up at least two earned runs.
Mississippi State will look to carry the momentum into a three-game weekend series against Queens University in Starkville, beginning Friday at 6 p.m. and airing on SEC Network+.
Southern Miss heads back to Hattiesburg and will attempt to shake off what is now back-to-back midweek collapses with a three-game set against 2024 NCAA Tournament 2-seed UNC-Wilmington. Friday’s opener is set for 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.
