Hancock homers twice, Hatcher goes deep once in midweek victory
STARKVILLE – Offense ruled the night at Dudy Noble Field, as the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball program slugged it was to a 10-2 victory over Samford on Tuesday (March 16) evening. The Diamond Dawgs hit three home runs and put 18 runners on base throughout the evening en route to its 11th home victory of the season.
The scoring got started with a single Mississippi State (14-3) run in the third inning, before a three-run fourth and a six-run sixth. Samford (7-10) got single runs in the seventh and eighth inning to cap the scoring.
Luke Hancock smacked a pair of home runs to push his season total to five. He is the first Bulldog since Josh Hatcher against South Carolina on May 17, 2019 to hit two home runs in a game. Ironically enough, Hatcher had the other round tripper for MSU on Tuesday, his first of the season.
Overall, Hancock was 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and three RBIs. Hatcher homered, walked and scored two runs, while Scotty Dubrule walked three times and singled in four plate appearances. Dubrule scored once and plated one RBI.
Nine different Diamond Dawgs collected hits and eight MSU hitters drove in RBIs in the game, as the offense churned out 10 hits, walked eight times and reached via one hit-by-pitch.
Brandon Smith (3-0) picked up the win in relief of MSU starting pitcher Houston Harding. Smith retired all five batters he faced in 1 2/3 innings of work with one strikeout. Harding allowed four hits in 3 1/3 scoreless innings and two strikeouts. Five other pitchers recorded out for State, highlighted by a three-strikeout inning from Parker Stinnett and two strikeouts from Stone Simmons in a clean ninth inning.
For Samford, Blake Bortak (0-1) took the loss with one run allowed in three innings of work. Garrett Howe collected a pair of hits, including a double, and Colton Ledbetter provided the lone RBI for Samford off the bench. Towns King doubled and scored a run in a pinch-hit appearance, as well.
Quotable
Head coach Chris Lemonis
On Luke Hancock’s contributions so far in 2021
CL: I always feel that the five and six spots in the lineup are huge, just those extra RBI’s. You are always standing out there trying to get a two out hit when you are in those spots. He has been good all year, but he was really good tonight. He had some really big swings. He is a steady ball player. He shows up every day ready to get after it. He gives our lineup some length, which I like. The more hitters you can add in, the better.
On how he feels about his team heading into SEC play this weekend
CL: You would always like to be undefeated, but we had a couple of tough games. It has been a good start. We have challenged our group. We went on the road and played in that great [College Baseball Showdown]. We have played some good competition and some good midweeks. We have had the chance to learn a lot about our team. We like where we are at right now. We are excited to go down to Baton Rouge. We know it will be tough. It’s always tough to get a win out of there. That is SEC play, we are ready to go.
Scoring Recap
Bottom Third
Josh Hatcher walked and stole second to start the inning before advancing to third on Lane Forsythe’s fly out. Rowdy Jordan doubled to left field to plate the first run of the game.
Mississippi State 1, Samford 0
Bottom Fourth
Kamren James walked and stole second before scoring on a Luke Hancock home run to right field. Hatcher hit the second home run of the inning to center field.
Mississippi State 4, Samford 0
Bottom Sixth
Hancock hit his second home run of the night to start the inning. Logan Tanner singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch before heading to third on pinch hitter Brayland Skinner’s single. Forsythe singled up the middle to score Tanner. A Scotty Dubrule single plated one before Jordangot hit-by-pitch to load the bases with one out. Tanner Allen reached on a fielder’s choice to score one and advance Dubrule to third, before a James single to short earned another run. Kace Garner walked to push across Allen and round out the inning.
Mississippi State 10, Samford 0
Top Seventh
Towns King doubled to right field then scored on Colton Ledbetter’s single to left field.
Mississippi State 10, Samford 1
Top Eighth
Taylor Garris singled to second base to start the inning and advanced to second on a ground out. He moved to third on a wild pitch before a third wild pitch of the inning allowed the run to score.
Mississippi State 10, Samford 2
Up Next
SEC play is on deck, as Mississippi State heads to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a weekend tilt with LSU. The Diamond Dawgs and Tigers throw first pitch of the three-game series at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 19 on the SEC Network.