What we learned from Mississippi State baseball’s series sweep vs Missouri State

• Mississippi State is still trying to figure out who its starting second baseman will be.
• Freshman Lukas Buckner has impressed with his composure and hitting ability.

This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball swept Missouri State this weekend, but it didn’t mean there was no sweat in the final inning. 

The No. 19 Bulldogs (6-1) entered Sunday’s ninth inning leading 6-1 in a combined no-hitter. That was until William Zareh blasted a three-run homer. The Bears (2-4) brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but Virginia transfer Chase Hungate came to the rescue with two game-ending outs for the 6-4 win. 

“I know we had a no-hitter into the ninth, but that’s a really good offensive lineup,” MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. “There’s pros inside that lineup. You are going to look up at the end of the year and you’ll probably see Missouri State in a regional like we had last year with Evansville heading to a Super Regional.”

The win meant MSU has swept both of its weekend series to begin the season. Its only loss so far was at Southern Miss on Tuesday, and the 6-1 record is the program’s best since 2019.

Here are three things we learned about Mississippi State from the series.

Mississippi State has depth, but Chris Lemonis isn’t satisfied yet

The Bulldogs scored 18 runs in the series with lots of flex in the lineup. Only five players — Ace Reese, Ross Highfill, Noah Sullivan, Hunter Hines and Bryce Chance — started all three games. 

Different players came through in big moments throughout the weekend. 

Sullivan, a USC-Upstate transfer, hit a go-ahead RBI double with two outs in the eighth inning on Friday. Reese, a Houston transfer, slashed a triple that drove in three runs the next day. Four players hit home runs on Sunday, when each starter had at least one hit.

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“We’re still not maximizing our offensive opportunities, and I think that’s something we got to keep (working on),” Lemonis said. “We’re having, like, a good at-bat, a good at-bat and then a really bad one. You don’t need to have a great one. You just need to have an average one and move the inning along. We’ll get up there and have a couple big hits and then strike out, strike out, which we got to correct.” 

Mississippi State still figuring out second base

Mississippi State started three players at second base against Missouri State. 

Sawyer Reeves, a transfer from The Citadel, started the first four games of the season but has slumped to 1-for-13 start at the plate. He also committed two costly errors against Southern Miss. The redshirt senior did not start any games this weekend. 

Lukas Buckner started at second base on Friday and Saturday and Gehrig Frei in the finale.

Frei committed an error in the first inning of Sunday’s game, the only error by the Bulldogs all weekend, but redeemed himself when he launched a home run on the first pitch in the bottom of the inning.

“I think one thing is we’re all aware that we have great depth, position player-wise,” Frei, a North Alabama transfer, said. “We got guys who can go in there and make an impact right away. It’s a good thing about our ball club.”

Lukas Buckner impressing as a freshman

Buckner didn’t start the first four games of the season but did start at shortstop on Friday and second base on Saturday.

The Knoxville, Tennessee native has been one of the most impressive freshmen on the team. 

He pinch-hit on Tuesday at Southern Miss and slapped two of MSU’s hits in the game. Buckner followed it with his first career start on Friday, adding two more hits at shortstop and the leadoff batter. He reached base twice again on Saturday.

“I think the biggest thing is just how composed he is,” Sullivan said of Buckner. “It’s like he’s been here like two, three years already. He knows how to work, he knows how to play and he’s about as good as it gets.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.