STARKVILLE — Pulling himself off the right field grass, fourth-year junior Tanner Allen offered a smirk toward centerfielder Rowdey Jordan.
As the undergrads perched upon the Bancorp South berm erupted in applause and moments after Allen narrowly cleared the fence with a 395-foot homer, Allen traded jabs with his outfield mate.
Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis joked Allen jumped into Jordan’s air space to make a full-stretch dive that sent him headfirst into the turf. Allen wouldn’t go quite that far, but conceded he has a tendency to play closer to center field than he might intend.
“We always joke with each other at practice about invading each other’s territory,” he said through a wry smile. “But he always stays out of mine and it seems like I always find my way into his.”
Flashing an improved glove and extending his hitting streak to nine games, Allen’s dual-ability paced No. 3 MSU to a 10-0 win over Grambling State Tuesday night in the first of five Bulldog home games this week.
“Being an alpha, man, I feel more free,” Allen said of how he’s taken to the outfield since transitioning from the infield a year ago. “I feel like I can kind of do my thing. I can play like a wild man and that’s what I like to do.”
Speaking with senior reliever Riley Self amid MSU’s upset loss to Kent State Saturday, Allen looked at his longtime teammate and pressed him. They’d both been at MSU for at least four years. It was time for an elder statesmen sermon of sorts.
Allen took the hitters and Self the pitchers.
In the three days since Self and Allen’s discussions, MSU has scored a combined 23 runs on 27 hits. The pitching staff, fresh off no-hitting the Golden Flashes on Sunday, allowed just two hits Tuesday and has struck out 26 batters in its last two outings.
Following an efficient four innings from Grambling starter Kerry Boykins Jr.,the MSU battery blasted the Tigers back to Louisiana with a five-run fifth inning to blow things open.
Doubles from Jacksonville transfer Scotty Dubrule and Jordan gave the Bulldogs their second, third and fourth runs of the night. Allen then followed Jordan’s long double that missed leaving the yard by less than a foot with a narrow lined homer of his own. Allen, who’s recorded 13 hits and 13 RBIs over his last nine contests, finished his 1-for-4 with four RBIs.
“He’s as pure a hitter as there is in the country,” MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. “You’re just seeing a guy get good pitches to hit and laying into some balls.”
On the bump, eight MSU pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts in a dominant two-hit performance against a Tigers roster that boasted four players hitting better than .300 entering Tuesday.
Second-year freshman Will Bednar rang up five of the six batters he faced as he painted between 94 and 95 miles per hour on the center field radar gun in his second start of the year. Slotted for just two innings of work as he continues to work back from what Lemonis described as soreness in his neck that forced him to miss two previous starts, MSU’s skipper added it will remain an ongoing process as to when Bednar could rejoin the weekend rotation.
“I really wasn’t happy with how I was feeling then,” Bednar said in reference to when he was held out of a start against then-No. 10 TCU. “Kind of as time went on I was able to get on a good throwing program and get into a good groove and feeling better and progressing. I’m happy with the progress right now.”
Behind Bednar, Self and freshmen Dylan Carmouche, Xavier Lovett and KC Hunt combined for four innings of relief, allowing just one hit and equaling Bednar’s five strikeouts.
Northwest Community College and Oxford product Parker Stinnett also earned his first appearance of the year, becoming the 23rd Bulldog pitcher to take the hill this spring. Stinnett finished his brief outing with two strikeouts in one inning pitched.
“Tonight was a really big night getting eight guys out there and all eight came out there and they were really crisp,” Lemonis said. “I mean we didn’t work ourselves into a jam or anything all night.”
With Tuesday’s win, MSU moved to 21-1 in midweek contests since the 2019 season. The Bulldogs are also 8-1 against SWAC competition over that same span, the lone loss coming to Texas Southern last spring.
“In the fall and in spring training, man, we faced these arms that are some of the best in the country and we barreled them up all day long,” Allen explained. “And I felt like we were up there Saturday and before then some swinging not to fail instead of being aggressive. And that’s been the difference the last two games at the plate for us.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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