Mississippi State baseball is leaving the Lonestar State with plenty of frustration. The Diamond Dawgs lost two of three in the Astros Foundation College Classic to move to 7-4 on the season.
A seventh-inning explosive allowed for a run-rule walk-off of Rice, 14-3, on Friday. On Saturday against Arizona, State battled back from down 5-1 early to down just 6-5 late. They had the winning runners on base in the bottom of the 9th, but couldn't bring them home. And on Sunday, another poor start put the Bulldogs in a hole they couldn't climb out of, as MSU lost 9-7 to Oklahoma State.
Starting pitching is what ultimately did in Mississippi State in Houston
At the end of the day, starting pitching is why the Diamond Dawgs are leaving Houston 1-2 as opposed to 3-0. Pico Khon delivered a perfectly acceptable outing on Friday, but his fellow starters did not.
Karson Ligon gave up four hits, a walk, and hit two batters in two innings to give up five runs against Arizona. The Wildcats scored once more in the remaining seven innings. Stone Simmons gave up five hits and three walks on the way to six runs in 2.2 innings against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys scored three the rest of the way.
Ligon and Simmons have each been varying degrees of shaky through three starts apiece, and the time may have come to explore other options.
Mississippi State baseball compounded mistakes in their losses
A major part of State's issues in Houston came down to having miscues pile up in the span of just a few minutes. In the 1st inning against Arizona, a hit by pitch set up a two-run homer. In the 2nd, a walk, error, and hit by pitch with a pair of singles mixed amongst those mistakes allowed the Wildcats to put three runs on the board to go ahead 5-1.
In the third inning against Oklahoma State, MSU had a pair of walks, an error, and a passed ball allow for three hits to bring in five runs, only two of those earned. That's the opposite of winning baseball, and it leads to taking avoidable losses.
The Diamond Dawgs are finding more production at the plate
If there were a positive to take away from the weekend in Houston, it's that State got more from its offense. Ace Reese had a massive weekend with three home runs, a double, and six RBI. Reed Stallman, Gerig Frei, Ross Highfill, Noah Sullivan, and Bryce Chance all stepped up at least once on the weekend if not multiple times.
Now it's worth noting that in 2/3 games, it took several innings before the lineup started to truly produce. But if they can build off this and find a bit more consistency over the course of a game, this could be a dangerous lineup.