Mississippi State Drops Midweek Contest vs. Southeastern Louisiana

BILOXI, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Three big innings from Southeastern Louisiana bested Mississippi State’s five-run first frame as the Bulldogs fell 11-5 in midweek action at MGM Park in Biloxi, Miss., on Wednesday.

“Obviously we did not put the pressure on them offensively,” MSU head coach Gary Henderson said. “We talked about the things that we did well, we talked about getting away from some of our strengths, we talked about the fact that we’re going to have to be able to go on the road and play in a good environment.

The Lions opened the scoring early with a ground rule RBI-double by Taylor Schwaner in the top of the first inning.

State replied with five runs of their own in the bottom half. A bases-loaded walk to Luke Alexander tied the game at one, and a Josh Hatcher sacrifice fly, MacNamee single and Rowdey Jordan two-RBI single put MSU ahead 5-1 as they brought 11 batters to the plate in the opening frame.

The lead didn’t last long though, as a three-run triple and a RBI-groundout in the third put Southeastern Louisiana back level with the Bulldogs at 5-5.

The Lions added three runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings to take a 11-5 lead and conclude the scoring.

Seven different State arms saw action in the contest. Cole Marsh got the start and allowed the first four runs. Riley Self, JP France and Jared Liebelt each threw at least an inning of scoreless relief for the MSU staff.

MSU will return home to open another five-game homestand that will begin with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday against No. 11 Vanderbilt to open Southeastern Conference play. The Bulldogs and Commodores will continue and conclude their three-game series Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., respectively.

Tickets for this weekend’s games against Vanderbilt, along with all of MSU’s home games and some road games, can be purchased through HailState.com/tickets.