When Georgia’s bullpen ran out of gas, Mississippi State’s bats caught fire, rolling to a 20-3 win in Sunday’s finale at Foley Field.
Although Scott Stricklin’s Bulldogs took two of the three games to win the series, seeing his bullpen implode in the manner it did was not exactly how the skipper wanted to see game three.
Of Mississippi State’s 19 unanswered runs, 17 came against members of the Georgia bullpen.
“We’ve got guys who need to step up and get better, and that’s what we talked about (after the game),” Stricklin said. “If they’re here and they’re on this roster, they’re expected to do their jobs. We’ve got to get better, and we’ve got to get guys to get outs, and we didn’t do a very good job today.”
Despite the loss, the Bulldog (16-4, 2-1) still managed to claim the series.
“We’ve just got to rewind it. We won the weekend, that’s always the goal,” Stricklin said. “This does leave a bit of a bad taste in your mouth to lose like that on Sunday, but we’ve just got to turn the page and move on."
Georgia actually staked starter Garrett Brown to a two run lead.
After MSU took a 1-0 lead in the second, Georgia grabbed the lead right back on a two-run double by Cory Acton.
In the third, Chaney Rogers guided a single into left for a 3-1 lead before an ugly fourth inning cost Georgia the lead.
The visiting Bulldogs should not have scored at all. A dropped infield pop by Cole Tate with one out in the fourth gave an extra out to Mississippi State, which the visiting Bulldogs took advantage of by scoring two runs.
A two-run single by eight-hole hitter RJ Yeager, followed by a two-run double by nine-hole hitter Tanner Leggett off Will Pearson, accounted for the runs.
It would soon get much worse. Pearson (0-1) was charged with three runs after not retiring a single batter in three attempts, but he was not the only reliever who struggled.
State added a run in the fifth before exploding for eight in the sixth off Jake Poindexter, the decisive blow a grand slam by Hunter Hines for a 10-3 lead.
“We just didn’t play well. They obviously swung the bat very well, and we just didn’t play well,” Stricklin said. “We missed three balls in the air today that we didn’t catch. To win games against good teams, you’ve got to make plays. But we didn’t pitch near well enough. We walked 13 guys, which is unacceptable. You can’t win games like that.”
Notes:
… Stricklin said that Liam Sullivan's (sore arm) threw the past few days and is feeling fine, although it’s unclear if he will make next week’s start at Kentucky.
“He’s doing better. He’s thrown the last couple of days. He’s been good, but we will wait and see if he will pitch at Kentucky,” Stricklin said. “We feel very confident he will be pitching against Florida. Kentucky right now, the weather does not look very good. It’s going to be in the 40s, so we’ve got to decide what’s best for him in the long run and for our team. But he’s doing better and taking positive steps."
… Corey Collins’ first-inning single extended his streak of reaching base to 18 games.
… Ben Anderson’s fourth-inning single extended his streak of reaching base to 18 games.
