After being swept in consecutive SEC series, Mississippi State baseball finally got one of its own. On April 19 against South Carolina (19-22, 5-13), the No. 16 Bulldogs won 4-3 in 11 innings to complete their first conference sweep since March 27-29, when they beat Ole Miss.
Mississippi State (30-10, 10-8), which had been swept by George and Tennessee, hit four home runs in the opener and won 5-3. It cruised 9-0 in Game 2, with starting pitcher Duke Stone picking up his seventh win of the season.
The series finale proved to be the challenge, with the Bulldogs blowing their 3-1 lead in the eighth. Pinch hitter Kevin Milewski scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Mississippi State’s offense can become the best in SEC
The Bulldogs put up 18 runs in this series, and the 36 hits, seven home runs and 17 RBIs should be sufficient to challenge an SEC opponent, though South Carolina is a sub-.500 team. They are second in the conference in batting average (.317) and hits (431) and fourth in on-base percentage (.417).
Twelve players are hitting above .300 this season, with five having seven or more home runs. Vytas Valincius, Jacob Parker and Blake Bevis all recorded three-hit games during the weekend.
Charlie Foster produces best game of season
Heading into Game 3, Charlie Foster had a 0-2 record and 5.55 ERA. And after a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, the hope of a series sweep was in jeopardy. What followed was five scoreless innings while pitching seven in total, his longest outing of the season.
Foster had a stretch of 10 straight retired batters. He allowed six hits and three runs and struck out eight, bringing his ERA down to 5.17.
Mississippi State’s bullpen showed how strong it could be
Foster, Stone and Tomas Valincius had the spotlight as the starters, but Mississippi State’s bullpen was equally as good, pitching 9⅓ innings, allowing six hits, zero earned runs and striking out 13.
Ben Davis and Maddox Webb helped save Game 1 and Game 3, respectively. Both games were tight in score, and David and Webb had multiple strikeouts. Dane Burns and Chris Billingsley Jr. also contributed well late in relief.
Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
