Mississippi State remained perfect in mid-week games, but not without a scare from Texas Southern.
No. 3 Mississippi State — in the midst of eight games in 11 days — won 5-1 Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field to move to 32-6.
MSU took an early 1-0 lead over Texas Southern (11-26) in the first inning, before the Tigers plated the equalizer in the third thanks to an MSU error. Then it was four innings of nothing for either side, before the Diamond Dogs scored four runs in the eighth to push the mid-week record to 12-0.
“I think you have to tip your hat to their guy who pitched tonight (Alex Olguin),” said MSU coach Chris Lemonis. “I thought he pitched a great game. Especially for a freshman, to come in here and pitch with that composure, it’s tough. He was mixing pitches, probably a little below bat speed. It made it tough on our guys, so they were starting to get frustrated out there.”
At the plate, senior Jake Mangum singled and came around to score in the first inning to move his hitting streak to 18 games, while sophomore Justin Foscue drove in the game-winning run with an RBI single to start the scoring in the eighth inning, pushing his hitting streak to 10 games.
Junior Dustin Skelton came off the bench as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and got his lone at bat in the eighth, promptly hitting a three-run home run to extend the MSU lead and move his reached base streak to 22 games.
Mississippi State, which holds a slim lead in the SEC West, hits the road for a crucial three-game series starting Thursday at Arkansas. The series opener will air on ESPNU starting at 8 p.m. Friday’s contest is slated for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch, while Saturday’s game is at 2 p.m.
The No. 10 Razorbacks are just a game back of the first-place Bulldogs in the SEC West at 9-6. Ole Miss and LSU are tied with Arkansas in the league standings. It avoided a sweep at the hands of Vanderbilt on Sunday with a five-run ninth inning as the Hogs pounded out a season-high 22 hits in the 14-12 victory.
