COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Mississippi State University baseball team scored two runs in the ninth inning Sunday but couldn’t muster enough offense to overtake the No. 7 University of South Carolina in a 6-4 loss at Carolina Stadium.
MSU (21-15, 5-10 Southeastern Conference) suffered its first sweep in league play this season, while the two-time defending national champion Gamecocks improved to 27-10 and 8-7.
South Carolina won all three games by five runs. The Bulldogs have now lost three conference road games by a single score and another pair by two runs apiece.
“We had more quality at-bats and hit more balls hard (than South Carolina),” MSU coach John Cohen said. “However, our balls were not falling. This game was a repeat of the entire weekend. It is symbolic of how season is going. We are close.”
The Bulldogs received another strong pitching start. In his first start of the season, Evan Mitchell (1-1) pitched into the fifth when the Gamecocks scored three times to erase a 2-1 deficit.
MSU had grabbed the lead by scoring twice in the top half of the inning. Mitch Slauter started things with a one-out single. Hunter Renfroe followed with a double. Back-to-back ground balls plated both scores.
In the USC half of the fifth, Mitchell allowed a walk and two hits before he was removed. An error, a ground ball out, and an RBI single by Adam Matthew gave South Carolina a 4-2 advantage.
The Gamecocks plated two critical insurance scores in the eighth. Reliever Taylor Stark was touched for a walk, double, and two-run single by Joey Pankake.
MSU had one last threat in the ninth. Daryl Norris singled and Trey Porter doubled. An RBI single by Slauter scored one run. A ground ball out scored another. The Bulldogs stranded runners at second and third base when Sam Frost hit a deep fly ball to right field to end the game.
The Bulldogs had eight hits, including multiple hits by C.T. Bradford, Slauter, and Renfroe. Bradford collected his 100th career hit in the game.
The Gamecocks had 11 hits, including three hits by Evan Marzilli. Chase Vergason, Pankake, and Matthew each added multiple hits.
Colby Holmes (5-0) allowed eight hits and four runs (all earned) in 8 1/3 innings to earn the win. Tyler Webb got his second save.
At the midway mark of the conference season, the Bulldogs look forward to returning to full health and playing at home for three of the final five SEC weekends.
“I really believe in this group of guys,” Cohen said. “Their attitude is awesome. It is tough to watch kids give it their all when they really can’t move. I will back these guys 100 percent. They are part of some outstanding recruiting classes.
“We had to outrecruit the LSUs, Auburns, and Floridas of the world to sign these kids. We have had had some back luck. But I really like how the schedule matches up. As we get healthy again, we should be able to do some damage in the second half of the season.”
MSU will travel to Pearl for a Tuesday night Governor’s Cup matchup against the University of Mississippi at 6:30 at Trustmark Park. Comcast Sports Southeast will televise the game.
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