The Mississippi State Bulldogs were dealt a sweep by the Texas A&M Aggies on Super Bulldog Weekend.
Entering SBW16 the Diamond Dawgs had not dropped a conference series yet this season. MSU had taken 2 out 3 games in every SEC series, including last weekend at then #1 Florida. That changed this weekend when Texas A&M came into Dudy Noble and swept all 3 games.
It started Friday night when the Aggies, not unlike Florida, were able to get to Dawgs’ ace Dakota Hudson. He went 7 innings giving up 4 runs on 10 hits. A Gavin Collins sac fly and Brent Rooker RBI single had the bulldogs down 4-2 headed into the 8th. Cody Brown would score on a wild pitch to bring it within one and the crowd came alive. The top of the 9th would end all hope for the Bulldogs. A HBP and 2 infield singles would load the bases with nobody out for A&M. Another HBP and a grand slam blew the game open for the Aggies as they would win 10-3.
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Game 2 brought new hope for MSU and Reid Humphreys’ 2-run homerun in the 1st inning was a good start. Again A&M would come out swinging and get to another MSU starter. This time it was Austin Sexton, who went only 3 innings giving up 9 hits and 5 runs….easily his worst outing this season. The Bulldogs would pull within one in the 6th when John Holland and Jake Mangum had 3 RBI combined. The bullpen struggled late again, giving up a 3 run eighth inning pushing the final to 10-6.
On to Sunday where the Dawgs have only won once in conference play. A&M again jumped out to an early lead. Konnor Pilkington, the starter, gave up 2 runs in his only inning of work and the Aggies got 2 more off Ryan Rigby in relief. MSU stormed back in the 7th when Gavin Collins hit a 2 run homer and Rooker had a RBI triple. Elih Marrero would give the Bulldogs a 5-4 lead with a RBI double to center. Stop me if this sounds familiar, but the Aggies would regain the lead with a 4 run eighth inning. A&M wins game 3, 10-5.
So what does this mean for the Diamond Dawgs? MSU drops from 1st place into a tie with Bama for 3rd in the west at 8-7. Most importantly it brings up a HUGE series against LSU in Baton Rouge this coming weekend. Mississippi State will have to keep the offense rolling and figure out the bullpen issues. In the big picture, State still controls their on destiny. Hosting a regional is still possible, the rankings won’t dip too much due to the quality of opponent, and you still have opportunities to get quality wins. So, yes, this was a deflating weekend but, no, State fans, the sky is not falling.