Mississippi State needed to shake off the negative vibes of last weekend’s sweep at the hands of Arkansas, and the Bulldogs were able to do exactly that behind a dominant pitching performance from Christian MacLeod. The freshman left-hander struck 11 Kentucky batters in six innings of shutout baseball, giving MSU the foundation for an 8-1 win on a cold Thursday night at Dudy Noble Field.
Thursday Triumph#HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/f6RzHvqbEV
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) April 2, 2021
MacLeod had a rough outing a week ago, giving up four home runs in the loss to the Razorbacks, but he was nearly untouchable in this game, only giving up two hits and retiring 12 in a row at one point. The Bulldog bullpen was strong in relief, allowing only one unearned run. The staff totaled 15 strikeouts, with freshman Stone Simmons pitching around some trouble in the ninth to close the game out.
Sheesh @christian44mac 😳
cc: @PitchingNinja pic.twitter.com/BwmULiqcwd
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) April 2, 2021
At the plate, State got an early lead on a Luke Hancock sacrifice fly in the first inning. The Bulldogs would repeat that process in the the third for Hancock’s 24th RPI of the season. A bases loaded walk made it 3-0, then in the sixth, Rowdey Jordan cranked a solo home run to right field to make it 4-0. State would tack on four more in the eighth, three of them coming on a Kamren James bases-clearing double.
Kam clears the bases 👏
Dawgs lead, 8-1! pic.twitter.com/3F5t3J9g18
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) April 2, 2021
MSU improves to 18-7 on the season, 3-4 in the SEC. The Bulldogs will look to take the series tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 6 PM, Will Bednar is scheduled to take the mound.
Photo courtesy of Mississippi State athletics
