Mississippi
Alabama baseball loses road series at Mississippi State; takeaways from the weekend
Alabama baseball dropped another conference series on the road, this time at No. 21 Mississippi State. Alabama lost 13-3 by mercy rule on Friday, then 8-1 on Saturday to lose the series. The Tide won Sunday’s series finale 10-5.
The No. 17 Crimson Tide (29-18, 10-14 SEC) continues to struggle on the road, with a 6-10 road record and a 3-9 SEC road record. Alabama won its first conference road series last week by taking two games at Ole Miss but has otherwise been swept (at Georgia and Kentucky) or lost two of three (at Mississippi State).
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The Alabama offense struggled mightily in the two losses, as Mississippi State pitchers consistently brought the right stuff at the right times. Mississippi State (32-16, 14-10 SEC) has now won 10 of its past 12 games and looks like one of the hottest teams in the SEC, while Alabama still feels like a middle-of-the-pack team in the conference.
Here are three takeaways from the series between Alabama and Mississippi State:
Alabama baseball mercy-ruled on Friday
Alabama has won by run rule seven times this season, including once in SEC play when it beat OIe Miss 12-0 in seven innings last weekend. This weekend, Alabama finally found itself on the losing end of the mercy rule, falling to Mississippi State 13-3 on Friday.
Mississippi State got off to a fast 3-0 lead thanks to a three-run home run by Hunter Hines in the first inning. The Bulldogs never looked back, adding three more runs by the end of the third inning to make it 6-0. After Alabama failed to respond again in the fourth inning, Mississippi State doubled its lead with a six-spot in the bottom of the fourth to make it 12-0.
The Tide finally got its offense going in the fifth inning by posting three runs, but that would be its only scoring frame. Another run by the Bulldogs in the sixth inning got them back into run-rule territory, and a scoreless seventh by Alabama led to the 13-3 mercy rule final.
Shorthanded Alabama lineup falls on Saturday
Robbie Faulk of On3 and Starkville Daily News reported before the game that the Crimson Tide had an illness spread among the team, leaving them shorthanded for Saturday’s game. Sure enough, Will Hodo, TJ McCants and Evan Sleight were all out of action on Saturday. Max Grant and William Hamiter filled in for Hodo and Sleight, respectively, while Justin Lebron took McCants’ spot in center field. Will Portera took over for Lebron at shortstop.
The absences were felt across the Alabama lineup all day. The Crimson Tide managed just one run on eight hits, with the only run coming on a solo home run in the third inning by Grant. Alabama left nine runners on base in the game.
On Sunday, McCants and Hodo both returned to the lineup, but Sleight remained out along with Gage Miller. The lineup is expected to be back at full strength by the next SEC series against LSU.
Ben Hess impressive in Sunday’s win
After starting the season strong as the Tide’s top starter, Ben Hess has struggled since the beginning of SEC play. Heading into the Mississippi State series, Hess had a 0-4 record and a 10.21 ERA, while Alabama was 1-6 in SEC games started by Hess.
Greg Farone replaced Hess as the series-opening starter with the Texas A&M series, and Zane Adams took over as the Saturday starter for this series. With Hess making his first Sunday start of the season, he put together one of his best performances yet in Alabama’s lone victory over the Bulldogs.
Hess went four innings and allowed just one run on four hits, logging his first SEC win this season. He struck out four batters and was very efficient, getting through those four innings with just 62 pitches. Hess’ performance included a healthy mixture of his signature powerful fastball and a clean breaking ball that really seemed to give the Bulldogs trouble.
The Crimson Tide will look for more of the same out of Hess with postseason play around the corner.
What’s next for Alabama baseball?
Alabama will head to Troy for its final midweek nonconference game of the season on Tuesday. The Tide’s next SEC series will be a home series with LSU that is set to start on Friday.
Mississippi College baseball has won the series against West Florida for the first time ever
The Choctaws have been playing UWF since 2015
MC won the first two games and put on a bit of a comeback in game 3
Next: GSC at Delta St., then Conference Tournament
GEORGE COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) — A George County High School senior is dead after an SUV hit him while bicycling on Highway 26 Friday night.
Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) officials said at 8:15 p.m. the MHP responded to a fatal crash on Highway 26 in George County.
Those officials said a Ford SUV traveling west on Highway 26 collided with 18-year-old Tyree Bradley of McLain, Mississippi, who was bicycling.
Bradley was fatally injured and died at the scene, MHP officials said.
The crash remains under investigation by the MHP.
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Some losses feel like they drag on longer than the box score suggests, and Mississippi State’s 3-1 opener at Texas A&M fits that category.
It wasn’t a blowout. It wasn’t a game where the Bulldogs looked outmatched.
It was just one of those nights where the early mistakes stuck around and the offense never quite found the swing that could shake them loose.
The frustrating part is how quickly the hole formed. Two solo homers and a wild pitch in the first two innings put Mississippi State behind 3-0, and that was basically the ballgame.
Against a top tier SEC team on the road, spotting three runs that early is a tough ask. The Bulldogs didn’t fold, but they also didn’t cash in when the door cracked open.
“I liked our fight. I think we’re really just working through some things offensively, and trying to stay together,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said. “This team still believes, and we’re going to battle and fight every chance we get, and I think I saw a lot of that. I’m encouraged for what that means for us moving forward, but, you know, they’re a good hitting team, and we’ve got to be able to shut them down early. I don’t think Peja [Goold] had her best stuff, but she continued to battle out there and find ways to get outs.”
They had chances. Two runners stranded in the fifth. Two more in the sixth. Another in the seventh. Des Rivera finally got the Bulldogs on the board with an RBI single, but the big hit that usually shows up for this lineup never arrived.
It wasn’t a lack of traffic. It was a lack of finish.
If there was a bright spot, it came from the bullpen. Delainey Everett gave Mississippi State exactly what it needed after the rocky start.
“That was just a huge relief appearance by Delaney to keep us in it,” Ricketts said. “It’s really good to have her back and healthy these last few weeks because these are the moments where we really need her and rely on her. We know that she’s going to be a big part of the remainder of the season going forward as well.”
Three hitless innings, one baserunner, and a reminder that she’s quietly putting together a strong stretch.
There were individual positives too. Nadia Barbary keeps climbing the doubles list. Kiarra Sells keeps finding ways on base.
But the bigger picture is simple. Mississippi State is now 6-10 in the SEC, and the margin for error is shrinking. Nights like this one are the difference between climbing back into the race and staying stuck in the middle.
They get another shot this morning with the schedule bumped up for weather. The formula isn’t complicated.
Clean up the early innings, keep getting quality relief, and find one or two timely swings. The Bulldogs didn’t get them Friday. They’ll need them today.
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