STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State (12-2) defeated Lipscomb (6-6) by a final score of 8-3 on Thursday evening at Dudy Noble Field.
Pitching Highlights Mississippi State starting pitcher McPherson earned the win, improving his record to 3-0 on the season. The starter delivered a strong performance, striking out eight batters over 6.0 innings while allowing just one earned run on five hits and one walk. Reliever Davis secured his second save of the year, entering in the eighth inning and tossing 1.2 scoreless frames with two strikeouts.
For Lipscomb, starter Alejandro Llinas took the loss (0-2) after giving up three earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts across 5.0 innings of work.
Scoring Highlights After five scoreless innings, Lipscomb broke the tie in the top of the sixth when Blake Carter hit an RBI double down the left-field line to score Aaron Stelogeannis.
Mississippi State quickly answered with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth. Drew Wyers tied the game with a leadoff solo home run to left field. Later in the inning, Gehrig Frei delivered an RBI single to right field to score Ace Reese. Chone James then laid down a sacrifice bunt that resulted in a throwing error, allowing both Frei and Noah Sullivan to cross the plate. Vytas Valincius capped the inning with an RBI single to center field to bring James home.
Wyers extended the lead in the seventh inning with his second solo home run of the game, this one to left-center.
Lipscomb narrowed the gap to 6-3 in the top of the eighth when Damion Kenealy Jr. lined a two-run double to left field to score Keaton Mahan and Aaron Stelogeannis. However, Mississippi State responded in the bottom half of the frame with a solo home run from Ryder Woodson and an RBI single to right-center from Bryce Chance that scored pinch-runner Gatlin Sanders, bringing the game to its final score of 8-3.
Game 2 is set for Friday at 6 PM weather permitting. Watch official Mississippi State Media outlets for changes.
(Disclaimer: This recap was created with AI assistance, and edited for accuracy by the webmaster.)