Mississippi State Baseball keeps season going with rout of St. John's

Mississippi State baseball entered Sunday with its season on the line. After falling to Virginia Saturday night, State faced elimination in their rematch with St. John's Sunday afternoon. The Diamond Dawgs needed a good showing if they wanted to keep their season going, and that's exactly what they got.

Mississippi State routed the Johnnie's 13-5 behind one of their best offensive performances of the year. The Bulldogs recorded 19 hits, stuck out just six times, recorded eight 2-out RBI, and went an impressive 11-20 with runners in scoring position. Only one of the starting nine failed to reach base, and five players had multi-hit days.

After struggling to find any consistency at the plate for weeks, MSU's lineup finally put together an all-around fantastic showing at a time where they absolutely needed it. Coupling that with a good-enough performance on the mound, they came away with a dominant win.

Dakota Jordan stays hot

When Dakota Jordan stepped to the plate in the 10th inning of MSU's Friday night regional opener, he was one for his last 26. Jordan proceeded to send one over the right-field wall for a walk-off, and since that point, he's been on fire.

Jordan added a pair of hits Saturday, and Sunday afternoon, he was unstoppable. Jordan went 5-5 with a walk and four RBI. He put on exclamation point on the win with this mammoth 3-run, 463-foot shot to left-center in the 9th.

He's moved past whatever was plaguing him, and that's crucial if State is going to continue fighting back in Charlottesville. Amani Larry, David Mershon, Hunter Hines, and Bryce Chance also had multi-hit days, with Mershon adding a 2-run homer in the 8th.

Finally, this lineup has found some momentum.

Schuelke's long relief outing crucial for State

Through two games, State used just four total pitchers - two starters, two relievers. They've used just two more through three games. Brooks Auger had a solid start but went just 4.1 innings. Usually, you're guaranteed to use multiple relievers in that scenario.

Instead, State needed just one, as Cam Schuelke gave them 4.2 innings of relief, striking out five and allowing just one earned run. It certainly helped that State's offense provided plenty of insurance to make keeping Schuelke in for an extended period a safe move.

But still, you don't make that decision if he wasn't pitching well, even with the lead. His strong showing saved State arms they'll need to keep winning. State still has to win two more games to advance to a Super Regional, and Schuekle helped make that more possible.

State's bats need to stay hot tonight against Virginia

Mississippi State will now face Virginia for the second time, and it's crucial that they stay hot at the plate. You feel solid with Pico Khon taking the mound for State and good relievers still available, but Virginia is a team that's always capable of putting up a big number on the scoreboard.

With State past their top arms, it's more likely we see a higher-scoring game tonight, especially because UVA's own pitching situation is iffy. The Bulldog lineup needs to build off their performance this afternoon to force a winner-take-all game on Monday.

MSU will once again look to stay alive tonight against the Cavaliers at 5:00 pm CT on ACC Network.