Mississippi State swept Ole Miss in Oxford on their last trip to Lafayette County in 2017, and the Bulldogs found the brooms exactly where they left them two seasons ago. Peyton Plumlee tossed 7.2 strong innings, and the Diamond Dawgs put up nine runs in the 4th inning to run away with the series finale 11-5. State improves to 42-10, 18-9 in the SEC, and find themselves only one game out of first in the SEC West after this weekend’s action.
PLUM PITCHING PERFORMANCE
Peyton Plumlee has pitched a season-high seven innings and retired 10 of the last 11 batters he's faced.#HailState🐶 | @Peytonplum1 pic.twitter.com/Ukuv5vGj8E
— Mississippi State Baseball ⚾️ (@HailStateBB) May 12, 2019
It’s been the emergence of Peyton Plumlee as the third weekend starter that has elevated this Mississippi State team into the realm of true national championship contender. Plumlee’s Sunday performance might have been his best of the year, keeping the Rebels off balance all day, and coming up with clutch outs when he was challenged. With Ethan Small, JT Ginn, and Plumlee, the Bulldogs appear to be a formidable opponent for anybody in postseason play.
ONE LAST TWIST OF THE KNIFE
Since that was (likely) his last game against Ole Miss, here’s Jake Mangum’s career stats against the Rebels:
14 wins, 2 losses
28-for-68 (.411)
9 doubles, 1 homer
16 runs scored
3 walks, all of them intentional— Brett Hudson (@Brett_Hudson) May 12, 2019
There may be no player across the entire athletic history of Mississippi State that has dominated the Bulldogs’ in-state rival like Jake Mangum has. You see his hitting totals above, and today’s win gave him a 14-2 career mark against the Rebels. For one last statement, Mangum doubled in a run in his final at-bat in Oxford to push the Bulldog lead to 11-5. No question the red and blue faithful will be excited to see Mangum finally out of the lineup card when this season ends.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Back-to-back JACKS!
Matulia drives the first pitch he sees DEEP DEEP DEEP over the wall in right, and the floodgates have opened!
🔝 | 2
🐶 | 8
Bottom 5th pic.twitter.com/33kh3JDUQb— Diamond Dogs (@LATechBSB) May 12, 2019
Mississippi State will take on Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, making up an earlier weather canceled game against Nebraska from the Frisco Classic in early March. Coach Chris Lemonis said he didn’t have any idea on the pitching rotation for that game or the upcoming series against South Carolina, which will come on a short week.
We will have plenty to talk about on the Thunder & Lightning Podcast and of course, on SportsTalk Mississippi.
Photo courtesy of Ole Miss athletics
