When they showed up for work on Tuesday, Mississippi State’s players were as stunned as the rest of the college baseball world to find out head coach Andy Cannizaro had resigned.

The Bulldogs did their best to put it behind them as they returned to the field Wednesday night and beat Jackson State 12-1, before embarking on a nine-game, 12-day road trip to Texas and Louisiana.

“When everyone else did,” outfielder Hunter Vansau said when asked in a postgame press conference about when players learned of Cannizaro’s resignation. “That’s basically how it went for us. That’s how it had to happen, I guess. It stinks, but that’s part of it and that’s what we had to deal with. We found out when we walked into the room and found out he’s no longer our coach.”

Cannizaro resigned Tuesday morning, saying “poor decisions” led to his leaving Mississippi State after only one season and three games. Neither Cannizaro nor Mississippi State officials have specified what those were or commented since then, but reports have surfaced that it revolved around an extramarital affair with an athletic department staffer.

ESPN and The Starkville Daily News reported Thursday that the affair led to an investigation by Mississippi State and, ultimately, Cannizaro’s resignation. The name of the staffer was not revealed by either news outlet, although they did report that she is no longer employed by the university.

Pitching coach Gary Henderson was named the interim head coach to replace Cannizaro, and his postgame press conference Wednesday’was his first time speaking publicly since events unfolded. Henderson did not share any insight into the specifics of Cannizaro’s situation, and instead said he and his players are trying to focus on baseball.

“For the most part you’re disappointed and you know immediately you’ve got to move forward, and that’s what you do. That’s the message to the kids, that’s the message to the coaching staff. I’m not sure that’s too insightful. I think that’s a pretty good slice of common sense there,” Henderson said.

Henderson said a team meeting to break the news was more mechanical than emotional.

“We took care of some housecleaning things, just how I wanted to go about doing some things. Then we talked about establishing an identity. It wasn’t a real long meeting, but it was direct and to the point. They received it well,” Henderson said.

The Bulldogs (1-3) also responded well after being swept in a three-game series at Southern Miss to open the season.

Vansau had an RBI single in the first inning and added a solo home run in the fourth as the Bulldogs built a 9-0 lead through six innings against JSU. Vansau finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Tanner Poole hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, and Luke Alexander and Rowdey Jordan also drove in a pair of runs each. The Bulldogs’ pitchers combined for 11 strike outs.

“Sometimes you play over the course of a weekend, you get punched in the nose a little bit, and you get a couple of days off and realize that you’re a lot better than you performed and you’re determined to go out and prove it. I think we did a nice job of that tonight,” Henderson said.

Afterward, the Bulldogs seemed to be taking their chaotic week in stride.

“It’s definitely an unfortunate event, but at the same time we have two ways to react to it. We can let it affect us or just overcome it, and I think that’s what we plan on doing going forward,” Vansau said.