STARKVILLE — On a night Dudy Noble Field celebrated “Stranger Things” night as an ode to Netflix’s hit sci-fi show, Mississippi State (5-2) fell victim to an otherworldly performance from previously winless Texas Southern (1-9) in an 8-4 loss Tuesday.
The Tigers’ victory marked just the 10th time in 117 games that the Bulldogs lost to a Southwestern Athletic Conference team — the most recent of which came against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on March 3, 2015.
“This is embarrassing for the program and there’s no way around that,” junior shortstop Jordan Westburg said postgame. “It’s an embarrassing loss and it should hurt. It should hurt for everybody on the team — guys that are on the bench, guys that started, guys that came in late in the game.”
Tossing a smorgasbord of pitchers as it prepares for five games in six days, MSU freshman starter KC Hunt escaped the first inning on just eight pitches before being chased following a 44-pitch second.
“He couldn’t throw a breaking-ball after the first and it doesn’t matter who you’re facing, you have to be able to command your off-speed,” MSU coach Chris Lemonis said of Hunt.
Behind Hunt, Furman graduate transfer David Dunlavey shouldered the heaviest load — tossing 4 1/3 innings of relief. Fresh off a solid three-inning outing against Oregon State over the weekend, Dunlavey was hit or miss in his encore performance as he allowed four runs on four hits while striking out four, falling victim to comparable control issues that doomed Hunt early.
For the Tigers, it was starter Camden Guarnere who held the offensively inclined MSU order at bay for much of the night. Despite reaching the mid-80 mile per hour range with his fastball, Guarnere located with precision as he allowed just three runs on six hits in five innings of work.
Left-handed reliever Robert Loza was similarly stifling off the bump, throwing 3 1/3 innings of 1-hit ball in the herculean upset bid.
“I liked Loza coming in after (Guarnere) because I thought he would know how to control the pace of the game,” Texas Southern coach Michael Robertson told The Dispatch. “He’s a senior. He’s a veteran. He’s a warrior. State hitters are very, very, very aggressive and they want to go get it so I knew he would make them wait.”
At the dish, the Tigers notched all seven of their runs between the second and fourth innings. A pair of sacrifice flies and a single by Justin Cooper gave the beleaguered visitors their first three runs of the day.
A wild pitch from Dunlavey a fielding error by MSU junior shortstop Jordan Westburg and a single from TSU designated hitter Victor Bueno bumped the Tigers lead to four heading into the fifth inning.
“We started the season 0-9 but this is TSU’s brand,” Robertson said. “We’re going to play probably 34-36 ballgames on the road we’re probably going to be on the other side of them to get ready for May, because for us that’s all that counts is May. So a huge feather in our cap and I think it’ll be easier to get the guys and the whole program to buy in.”
Though his efforts didn’t quite match those of actress Millie Bobby Brown’s superpower-fueled character “Eleven” from Stranger Things, Westburg — MSU’s own No. 11 — finished his night 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored and was one of just two Bulldogs with multiple hits in the contest.
With Westburg anchoring the offense, MSU’s last ditch comeback effort earned them a run in the ninth before strikeouts by sophomore Brandon Pimentel and Tanner Leggett ended the night.
“We’ve just got to be able to put some good at-bats together,” Lemonis said. “I think I said it the other day, we’re a good at-bat, then a good at-bat then it’s a gross at-bat and we have to get out of that piece.”
With the loss Tuesday, it was the first time MSU fell in a home midweek game since falling 3-2 to Louisiana Tech March 7, 2017.
That said, the Bulldogs are back in action Wednesday night against another SWAC opponent in Alcorn State. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
“It sucks, but it’s early in the season,” Westburg said. “Better to get them out of the way now. The good thing is we have a game tomorrow. We get to go to sleep, come back to the ball field and compete right away which is the best thing for us.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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