Peyton Plumlee looked downtrodden.
Wandering off the mound after 6.1 innings pitched Sunday, the senior righty kept his head peering toward the grass, almost sulking.
There was subtle disappointment in not finishing the seventh inning for the first time all season, yet it was also a look of triumph.
As he headed toward the dugout, the 8,204 fans in attendance at Dudy Noble Field presented him with a deafening standing ovation.
Plumlee had allowed just one hit and no runs on the day — his best outing since an eight-inning, three-hit day against Indiana State on Feb. 25, 2017 — as No. 9 Mississippi State took down No. 4 Georgia, 6-5.
“To have that feeling, to walk off, and today to have everybody behind me and all my teammates get so excited, that was a really special moment for me,” he said.
Plumlee has been an enigma of sorts this season. For each great outing, a middling appearance seems to follow.
But after being chased in two innings against Arkansas last weekend, he combined for 10.1 innings pitched, one run, four hits and eight strikeouts in outings against No. 19 Ole Miss on Tuesday and Georgia on Sunday.
“How about the whole week for (Plumlee)?” MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. “Going back to at Arkansas, then bouncing back from that tough start and giving us a great one Tuesday night and giving us a great start today. Man, really happy for Peyton. He was really good today.”
Plumlee appeared poised for another mediocre performance in the first inning Sunday. An error by sophomore Justin Foscue and a single by Georgia’s Riley King put the first two runners of the game aboard.
Instead of imploding, Plumlee battled. He struck out the side to end the threat and the inning.
“I just knew that I couldn’t get too big,” Plumlee said. “I couldn’t try to overpower people. I had to stick to what I know, moving the ball down in the zone, in and out, and knowing if I was going get those guys to put it in play or maybe to a two-strike count then maybe I can just get them on their toes.”
The MSU bullpen was shaky for the second straight game. After Plumlee was pulled mid-at-bat, redshirt junior Trysten Barlow walked the only two batters he faced to load the bases with one out.
Senior Jared Liebelt ended the threat, earning a fly out and a three-pitch strikeout, but ran into his own troubles in the eighth.
Liebelt allowed a leadoff double Tucker Maxwell and hit John Cable to put two runners on. Cam Shepherd’s RBI single ended his day.
Cole Gordon then walked the bases loaded before striking out Patrick Sullivan to close the inning.
Junior Colby White furthered the trend when he allowed a solo home run to Austin Biggar and a three-run shot to LJ Talley in the ninth, cutting the MSU lead to one.
White then drew a fly out to center and struck out Shepherd to end the game.
“They’re fine,” Lemonis said of his relievers. “We’ve had a couple guys have a tough outing or two, but that’s going to happen in this league.”
After scoring 28 runs in the first two games of the series, MSU needed every bit of its six runs Sunday.
Junior Dustin Skelton notched his fifth RBI of the weekend with a sacrifice fly to left that plated sophomore Justin Foscue in the second inning.
Sophomore Tanner Allen aided the cause in the fifth inning when he roped a two-RBI double down the right field line and moved to third on a throw home.
“He hung a changeup with two strikes and I was able to put a barrel on it and run one down the line, drive a few runs in and got us a little momentum and we went from there” he said.
Allen added another run in the seventh inning when he smoked a sacrifice fly to right-center field to score senior Jake Mangum.
One inning later, Skelton singled home Foscue before senior Marshall Gilbert grounded into a fielder’s choice that brought in sophomore Rowdey Jordan for the decisive run.
MSU earned its second SEC sweep of the season with the win. The first came against Alabama during Super Bulldog Weekend April 12-14.
Lemonis’ bunch are now 36-9 and 13-8 in conference play. They are tied for second in the SEC West with Ole Miss and LSU.
“We’re just going to stay even keel,” Allen said. “Don’t get too low on the lows and don’t get too high on the highs.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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