College Baseball Roundup: Bulldogs sweep Auburn; ULM beats Southern Miss in series finale
Published 8:19 pm Sunday, April 21, 2024
- Mississippi State baseball players celebrate after getting a walk-off hit to beat Auburn 4-3 on Sunday. The Bulldogs swept a doubleheader from the Tigers, as well as their three-game SEC series in Starkville. (Mississippi State Athletics)
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State finally wound up on the right side of a close game, and got a nice bonus for it as well.
Logan Kohler hit a game-tying two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Connor Hujsak singled in the winning run in the eighth as Mississippi State beat Auburn 4-3 in game two of a doubleheader on Sunday.
The Bulldogs also won game one, 3-1, to earn their first sweep of a Southeastern Conference series this season. They moved into third place in the SEC West, and a tie for fifth place in the league overall.
Mississippi State (26-14, 10-8 SEC) also won for only the third time in 12 one-run games this season by finding some late-inning magic.
Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the seventh in game two — both games were scheduled for seven innings following a rainout on Saturday — the Bulldogs quickly tied it. Hujsak and Bryce Chance singled to start the rally, and Kohler followed with his two-run double to make it 3-3.
The Bulldogs couldn’t get Kohler across with the winning run, but did get it in the eighth. Hujsak’s two-out single scoring Dakota Jordan from second base for the 4-3 walk-off victory.
WALKED. IT. OFF. #HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/jb5xK8AmzE
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) April 21, 2024
Hujsak, Kohler and Chance all had two hits for Mississippi State. Kohler finished with three RBIs and Chance scored two runs. Tyson Hardin had five strikeouts in two innings of scoreless, hitless relief to earn the win.
In game one, Ethan Pulliam and Amani Larry each hit an RBI single in the fourth inning, and Hunter Hines had another in the sixth to pace Misissippi State to the 3-1 victory.
Jurrangelo Cjintje (6-1) pitched 6 2/3 innings for the Bulldogs. He allowed one run on three hits and three walks, and struck out five batters.
Kaleb Freeman hit a solo home run in the fifth inning for Auburn (19-20, 2-16).
Louisiana-Monroe 5, Southern Miss 1
Louisiana-Monroe scored all of its runs over the final three innings as it salvaged the final game of a weekend series against Southern Miss on Sunday.
The loss ended a four-game winning streak for Southern Miss (25-15, 12-6 Sun Belt Conference), while the Warhawks (18-21, 6-12) snapped a four-game losing streak as well as nine-game skid to Southern Miss.
A throwing error allowed ULM to score the tying run in the seventh inning, and then Jake Haggard hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the go-ahead run. Matt Abshire followed with an RBI double to make it 3-1.
Shawn Weatherbee hit another RBI double for the Warhawks in the eighth inning, and Bryce Blaser an RBI single in the ninth.
Billy Butler’s RBI double in the fifth inning gave Southern Miss a 1-0 lead, but it did not score again. The Golden Eagles left eight runners on base and hit into two double plays.