COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Mississippi State baseball team surrendered a pair of grand slams Sunday in a 13-5 loss to No. 1 Texas A&M 13-5 in a Southeastern Conference game at Blue Bell Park.
The victory helped Texas A&M (32-3, 10-3 SEC) win the best-of-three series, while MSU fell to 22-15 and 6-8. The Bulldogs have dropped four of five conference series this season.
“In the first two games (of the series), we pitched it well and that kept us in the game,” MSU coach John Cohen said. “In this game, we didn’t pitch it well at all. Realistically, we have two out of eight innings where you feel like pitchers went out and did a really great job.
“I feel we have the best defensive infield in the league, but we are struggling to put them in a position to make plays.”
MSU built a 2-0 lead on a two-run double by John Holland in the first inning. Texas A&M evened the game with two runs on three hits in the home half of the inning.
The Bulldogs took a 3-2 in the second on a single by Gavin Collins. The Aggies chased starter Vance Tatum (3-2) in a two-run second that gave them the lead for good.
In the fourth, a grand slam by Nick Banks helped Texas A&M make it 8-3.
The Bulldogs closed within 8-5 in the fifth on a Wes Rea home run and run-scoring infield fly by Cody Brown.
The Aggies answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning. They put the game away on a grand slam by Ronnie Gideon in the eighth.
MSU had 14 hits. Rea had three, while Gridley, Brown, and Seth Heck had two.
Tatum lasted one-plus inning, allowing three hits and four runs (three earned). Logan Elliot, Dakota Hudson, Ross Mitchell, Zac Houston, and Paul Young followed in relief.
Texas A&M had 12 hits. Logan Taylor had three, while Banks, Michael Barash, and Mitchell Nau had two. Ryan Hendrix (4-1) earned the win with 4 1/3 innings of one-hit shutout relief.
MSU will play host to Northwestern State at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. It will play host to Florida in a three-game series this weekend for Super Bulldog Weekend.
n Alabama 5, Georgia 2: At Hoover, Alabama, Geoffrey Bramblett tied a career-high with nine strikeouts in a seven-inning effort Sunday to lift the Crimson Tide past the Bulldogs.
The victory helped Alabama take the best-of-three series and improve to 18-16 and 6-9 in the Southeastern Conference.
Bramblett, a sophomore retired nine straight from the end of the third inning until the sixth. He used strikeouts to record eight of his final nine outs.
Freshman Jake Walters struck out two in the final two innings for his first career save.
Mikey White was 2-for-3 with an inside-the-park home run, the Crimson Tide’s first since 2010. White also had a double, an RBI, and two runs scored. Cody Henry was 2-for-2 with an RBI, a run scored, and two walks.
Alabama will play host to Alabama-Birmingham at 6 p.m. Tuesday (SEC Network) at the Hoover Met.
n Southern Mississippi 6, Western Kentucky 3: At Bowling Green, Kentucky, Freshman Taylor Braley had four hits and drove in four runs Sunday to lead the Golden Eagles to their Conference USA victory at Nick Denes Field.
The victory helped Southern Miss (20-12-1, 8-6 C-USA) take the series after a 15-3 win Saturday.
Braley had four of the Golden Eagles’ 15 hits, while Austin Roussel had three and Tim Lynch had two.
Starting pitcher James McMahon (7-0) threw five strong innings to get the victory. He allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks. He struck out three.
After giving up a run to open the sixth, reliever Nick Johnson then settled down to retire the final seven batters in three innings. Ryan Milton threw a perfect ninth to earn his eighth save.
Southern Miss will play Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Tulane.
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