The scripted pitcher’s duel at Baum-Walker Stadium lived up to its billing Thursday night in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Mississippi State redshirt junior Ethan Small duked it out with Arkansas starter Isaiah Campbell, though to no avail, in the Diamond Dawgs’ 5-3 loss.
Small gave up three runs on five hits in six innings of work while striking out nine.
Campbell was equally dominant in his 7.2 innings pitched. He gave up just two runs on five hits.
Sophomore Rowdey Jordan opened the scoring with a solo home run to right field in the top of the fifth inning to give MSU a 1-0 lead.
Arkansas responded in the sixth. The Razorbacks chased Small after Casey Martin notched a two-run double followed by a Matt Goodheart RBI single.
MSU got within one run in the top of the eighth inning when sophomore Josh Hatcher scored junior Dustin Skelton from third on a groundout.
Arkansas extended its lead in the bottom of the frame when Dominic Fletcher tagged junior Riley Self for a two-run home run over the right field fence.
Senior Elijah MacNamee belted a solo home run in the top of the ninth before Arkansas reliever Matt Cronin retired the next three MSU batters.
With the loss, MSU drops to 32-7 and 10-6 in conference play. The Diamond Dawgs are now second in the SEC East behind the Razorbacks at 11-5-1.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.