Bulldogs' Big Inning Too Much on Friday Night

Friday, March 5

Starkville, MS

7 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. CT

Kent State University

3-3

Mississippi State University

7-2

Kent State

Mississippi State

Photo by: David Dermer

Bulldogs' Big Inning Too Much on Friday Night

3/5/2021 10:14:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

STARKVILLE, MS- Number two Mississippi State struck for six in the fifth inning and came back to top the Golden Flashes by the score of 8-3 Friday night at Dudy Noble Stadium.

The Bulldogs got a couple of singles and took advantage of a couple of walks and a hitter batter in the decisive inning. The Mississippi State bullpen made the lead hold up, retiring 19 in a row at one point of the game.

The Golden Flashes struck first on Friday, manufacturing a run in the top of the first. Cam Touchette starting things off with a lead-off single to center and went to third after a Ben Carew sacrifice bunt was thrown into right field by Mississippi State starter Christian McLeod. Justin Miknis followed with a run-scoring single, giving Kent State a 1-0 lead. That base hit ran Miknis' hitting streak to all six games this season.

The second-ranked Bulldogs answered after Rowdy Jordan hit a sinking line drive to lead-off the game. Carew dove and came up short, allowing Jordan to record a lead-off triple. Jordan would come home on a rbi groundout.

Shortstop Mack Timbrook picked a great time for his first collegiate home run, taking a 3-2 pitch over the right-field wall for a solo homer in the second. McLeod then lost the strike zone, walking three Golden Flashes and throwing a wild pitch that allowed Kevin Dobos to score. McLeod lasted just one and two-thirds innings as Kent State loaded the bases and got into the Bulldog bullpen early. However, the Flashes could not capitalize and took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the second.

Lane worked a quiet second and third but got chased in the fourth. The righty loaded the bases with one out and that brought in Colin Romel. The lefty proceeded to get out of the jam with a pair of strike outs to end the inning. He wasn't as fortunate in the fifth as those two aforementioned timely hits led to the big Bulldog inning.

Aside from the big fifth inning, Romel was solid. The southpaw worked four innings, allowing four hits, those six runs, five of them were earned and struck out four. Brody Ware made his collegiate debut, working the final two-thirds of an inning in the eighth.

The loss evens the Kent State record at 3-3 while the Bulldogs improve to 7-3 on the season. Game two of the three game set is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET and can be seen on SEC Nework Plus and the watch ESPN app.