No. 4 Mississippi State baseball drops game two against No. 24 LBSU

STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – No. 3 Mississippi State (0-2) fell to No. 24 Long Beach State (2-0) by a score of 13-3 in the second game of the series on Saturday at Dudy Noble Field. The 13,351 in attendance marked the 13th highest attendance in history.

State’s bats were alive early on in the contest as the Diamond Dawgs scored two runs in the first and one in the third, but Long Beach State responded with eight runs of its own over the first four innings. LBSU reliever Jack Noble (1-0) came on in the third and pitched 4.1 innings to earn the win for the Dirtbags. Noble held MSU scoreless on three hits, while striking out six batters.

KC Hunt (0-1) was charged with the loss after allowing five runs – all earned – on six hits, while striking out four and walking two. Cam Tullar came on in the fourth and gave up three runs on four hits, while striking out two. Preston Johnson also came on in relief and kept the LBSU bats at bay starting in the fifth inning. Johnson struck out nine and allowed just one run on a hit in four innings of relief work before freshman Jack Walker closed out the game for the Diamond Dawgs.

At the plate, the Diamond Dawgs tallied nine hits on the day with Brad Cumbest and Kamren James accounting for five of them. Cumbest put together a 3-for-4 day with a double, while James was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Logan Tanner drove in two of State’s three runs and finished the afternoon 1-for-4. Hunter Hines drove in a run in a 1-for-3 effort, while Luke Hancock and Matt Corder also tallied base knocks in the contest.

The series continues with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday (Feb. 20) at Dudy Noble Field. Mississippi State is scheduled to start RHP Cade Smith on Saturday, while Long Beach State will send RHP Juaron Watts-Brown to the mound.