MSU strikes out 20 batter for the first time since 2002 against Jacksonville State
PEARL, Miss. – Houston Harding struck out a career-best nine batters in the start and Logan Tanner drove in a pair of runs as the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball program notched a 4-1 victory over Southern Miss on Wednesday (March 3) at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi.
Mississippi State (6-2) racked up 20 strikeouts in a game for the first time in exactly 19 years. On March 3, 2002, the Diamond Dawgs struck out 20 batters against Jacksonville State at Dudy Noble Field in the final game of a three-game series. That day, Joey Collums (15) and Jonathan Papelbon (5) helped MSU reach the 20 K mark.
On Wednesday, the quartet of Harding (9), Preston Johnson (6), Cam Tullar (2) and Stone Simmons (3) reached the mark. The MSU pitching staff combined to scatter three hits and three walks, with the only run coming in the third inning after a leadoff double.
It was the 11th straight victory for Mississippi State over an in-state opponent dating back to the start of the 2019 season. That season Southern Miss won a 1-0 extra-inning game on February 22 at Dudy Noble Field. Since then, State won the final eight games of the 2019 season against in-state foes, captured its lone game versus a Mississippi university in 2020 and is 2-0 thus far in 2021.
The Diamond Dawgs (6-2) struck for single runs in the first and third innings, then got a pair of runs in the fifth inning to cap its scoring. Tanner was one of four to produce a multi-hit game against USM, as he, Allen, Brad Cumbest and Scotty Dubrule all chipped in two hits apiece.
Tanner’s two RBIs in the game mark his second career game with multiple runs batted in this season. His first career multi-RBI effort came in the middle game of the series with Tulane, as he drove in the game-tying runs with his ninth-inning, two-RBI single.
Harding (1-1) picked up the win in his second start of the season. He worked five innings, allowed two hits with one walk and struck out nine. Preston Johnson worked around a hit in the sixth and a walk in the seventh to toss two scoreless frames in his MSU debut, as he recorded all six outs via the K. Tullar fanned two in one inning of work and Simmons earned his first career save with three ninth-inning strikeouts.
For Southern Miss, Drew Boyd (1-1) took the loss with four runs allowed – three earned – on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings of work. He walked one and struck out two in the outing.
Quotable
Head coach Chris Lemonis
On how he is feeling about his team to this point
CL: We are learning a lot about ourselves right now. Before the game, we spoke about building our resume as a ballclub, [learning] who we are, and going on the road in front of a great crowd to beat a really good team. Southern Miss is going to be a Regional team and they are an in-state rival. For us to be able to put a good effort out there, we are what we showed tonight. We have that ability, we’ll play great defense [as the season goes on] and when we pitch like that, it’s really hard to score against us.
Scoring Recap
Bottom First
Scotty Dubrule reached on a fielding error to start the inning, advancing to third on a Tanner Allen single. Logan Tanner singled through the right side to score Dubrule with one out.
Mississippi State 1, Southern Miss 0
Top Third
Blake Johnson doubled down the left field line, advanced to third on Dustin Dickerson’s single to left field, before a fielding error in left field allowed him to come around to score.
Mississippi State 1, Southern Miss 1
Bottom Third
Brad Cumbest tripled to right center to lead off the inning and scored on a Rowdey Jordan sacrifice fly.
Mississippi State 2, Southern Miss 1
Bottom Fifth
Dubrule singled to shortstop and stole second, advancing to third on a throwing error. Tanner Allen’s single through the right side scored Dubrule and, after a wild pitch moved Allen to second base, Tanner drove in his second RBI of the game with a base hit up the middle.
Mississippi State 4, Southern Miss 1
Up Next
Mississippi State will return home to face Kent State in a three-game weekend series starting Friday, March 5 at 6 p.m.