Dogs Drop First Game in Poor Performance
Well…there’s no way around it, tonight was a bad night. It started off poorly and by the end of the evening was even worse. Mississippi State (13-1) dropped a 3-2 decision to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on what ended up being a dreary night for baseball. The Bulldogs could not get a big hit in any situation tonight and the pitching let us down in the clutch. Mississippi State could not overcome their poor play and a 50-minute rain delay in their worst game of the year.
The Golden Lions from Pine Bluff struck early in the first for 2 off starter Jesse McCord and put the pressure on the Bulldogs. Mississippi State would answer for two of their own in the third to even things at 2. From this point until the 8th, UAPB couldn’t get anything going off the Bulldog relievers and it felt as though it was if not when the Bulldogs would take the lead. But time and again Mississippi State would not drive the runs in and kept the score knotted at 2. Ross Mitchell came in the 8th and was touched for 2 poorly hit choppers for 2 infield singles. He really did not pitch poorly but will unluckily be tagged with the loss. With runners on the corners and one out, Bulldog closer Trevor Fitts came on. The usually reliable Fitts hit his first batter then walked the next to give UAPB the lead for good. It was a disappointing outing from Fitts but he will undoubtedly bounce back.
The offense was poor for most of the night. While they did draw many walks and baserunners, the Bulldogs did not come through with the game changing hit once. For a team who has done so all season to this point, it was obviously a big disappointment tonight.
While it was clearly a bad night and a very bad loss, there is no reason to panic. Nights like tonight happen in baseball where nothing seems to go your way. While the clutch hit never came, the Bulldogs did hit some balls hard that the UAPB defense made some nice plays on. The Bulldogs will look to bounce back this weekend with their final weekend series before SEC play at home against San Diego. The Toreros are coming off an impressive two-game sweep of #9 Texas and will be a formidable test for the Bulldogs this weekend. The 1st game is Friday at 6:30 on the SEC Network+.