Mississippi State offense heats up in Governor's Cup win over Ole Miss

PEARL – For over an hour at Trustmark Park on Tuesday night, it felt like the same old story for Mississippi State baseball. The Bulldogs couldn’t buy a hit, let alone a run.

Sophomore left fielder Rowdey Jordan changed that by smashing a solo home run into the Ole Miss bullpen in the fifth inning, but that song has been sung recently as well. Jordan hit a homer against Arkansas last week, and it proved to be one of just three MSU runs scored in that series opening loss.

Jordan’s homer Tuesday night in the Governor’s Cup was the Bulldogs first hit of the game. It tied the score at one apiece. At the time, it appeared to be a monumental swing of the bat. Who knew how many more runs the struggling Mississippi State offense had in it?

The answer: A lot.

The No. 8 Bulldogs beat the No. 19 Rebels, 8-1, in a game the team badly needed to win to rid the taste of three losses to Arkansas last week, the latter two of which were blowouts.

"I thought we strung together some really good at-bats," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. "That's what we've been missing lately. Not the home run or the doubles, but just good AB's." 

Mississippi State didn’t hit well in last week's defeats. The same was true in front of a record crowd of 8,638 for half of Tuesday’s game. The Dogs went down in order in the second and fourth innings. Sophomore shortstop Jordan Westburg worked a walk in the first, and Mangum was hit by a pitch in the fourth. Those were the only base runners State had in the first four frames.

Even in the fifth, when Jordan hit his home run, the next three Bulldog batters – junior catcher Dustin Skelton, freshman right fielder Brad Cumbest and senior third baseman Marshall Gilbert – were retired in succession.

Mississippi State gave no signs it would sustain game-changing rallies in the latter half of the game, but that’s exactly what happened. The Bulldogs scored three runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

Jordan had the biggest hit of the game for less than half an hour. Sophomore second baseman Justin Foscue changed that with a bases-loaded double to right field in the sixth. He brought two runners home to break the tie. State tacked on one more in the frame on a sacrifice fly from Skelton.

Oddly enough, Foscue said he didn't hit his double well. It didn't matter; he got the job done, which he and his teammates were unable to do against Arkansas. 

"I think (the right fielder) was shaded toward right center, and I'm just lucky that it got down," Foscue said. "I hit it in the right spot." 

The Bulldogs were efficient in reaching their run total. They only needed seven hits. The Rebels’ defense aided in that with a failed fielder’s choice and an error that led to two runs in the seventh. Sophomore first baseman Tanner Allen brought the middle run in that frame home with a single up the middle. Mangum added the eighth run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

The offensive outburst not only led the Bulldogs to their fourth-straight Governor’s Cup victory, but it gives them confidence heading into this weekend’s three-game series against No. 5 Georgia (33-8, 13-5 SEC). The Bulldogs from Athens have the best team ERA in the SEC at 2.57. Mississippi State can’t afford to go cold like it did against Arkansas against Georgia at Dudy Noble Field.

"To get eight runs, it shows that we're a good offense and we can still do this whenever we can," Foscue said. 

Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter.