Mississippi State Review/Preview: 5-4 better than 1-8, but the pace must pick up in last 12
- Doug Kyle
- 4 minutes ago
- 5 min read
By Doug Kyle
Mississippi State was not the only Southeastern Conference baseball team to get off to a slow start in 2025 conference play. Other expected contenders Texas A&M (also top-ranked preseason) and Florida also had a "1" on the left side of their conference record after three weekends.
Now, A&M has righted its ship, winning road series against both Tennessee and Arkansas, along with invoking some Disney-like heroics in the series finale of a home sweep over South Carolina.
Florida had the good fortune of playing SEC-winless Missouri that took it from 1-11 to 4-11, and that's how they came into Dudy Noble Field for a series that most State fans likely thought would be a series win, some perhaps even expecting a sweep.
Well, it didn't turn out like that. Even with heroic starting pitching from nationally-recognized ace Pico Kohn, the Bulldogs had the road run-rule card played on them Friday night, exactly a week after they'd used it at Alabama for an identical 13-3 win called after eight innings. Perhaps the most jaw-dropping and stupefying element was when senior pitcher Stone Simmons failed to get an out and left after giving up six runs.
That's when things got even stranger. The Saturday night game was like a Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots back and forth match, with each team trying to land a knockout punch, the Bulldogs to even the series, the Gators to clinch it. When the smoke cleared, some even more inconceivable things had happened. State had another reliever, Nate Williams, also give up six runs and leave with an identical 0.0 in the box score under "Innings pitched."
The bats battled to overcome what the arms could not, and the Bulldogs even came close to erasing a 9-6 deficit, scoring two on a Reed Stallman homer but then having the fastest baserunner on the team, Ross Highfill, thrown out at the plate to end the 7th inning at 9-8.
Florida added a couple more in the 9th, after a dropped outfield fly ball and wild throw on a bunt gave the Gators the worst kind of runs: unearned insurance. Bottom of the 9th, State went in order, and Florida had its second straight, game and series, win, 11-8.
Head Coach Chris Lemonis would say later he challenged the team to answer back throughout the weekend. And answer back they did. In what Lemonis cited as key, the Bulldogs came out Sunday afternoon, even after Florida stroked a home run to lead 2-0, and scored in the first inning for the eighth straight game, Ace Reese's 13th homer, for a 2-2 tie. What does scoring in the 1st for eight straight games mean? It's debatable if in losses you score little or not at all after that early run production, but on this day, it was essential.
And, it was a team effort. There were leaders, as there always are, Ace Reese getting his first four-hit game as a Bulldog, including one of the four MSU home runs in the game. Gehrig Frei, who came to State to play corner infield and is settling in at leadoff and a corner outfield spot, had three hits, two of them home runs. And catcher Joe Powell, lifted from the firefighter and EMT school ranks a year ago, is making the most of playing time split with Highfill, getting two hits, one a critical three-run homer in the 3rd when State scored five. Bryce Chance had two RBI hits, one driving in two during the five-run 8th, when Florida intentionally walked Stallman to load the bases and pitch to him instead.
Karson Ligon started on the mound and went five innings for the win. Two pitchers from Saturday's game, Ben Davis and Williams, returned to pitch relief after throwing 53 between them the night before. They gave up three runs together but kept the game within reach. And, fittingly, Simmons returned and pitched around a walk and a single to end the 9th, and the game, with a 14-8 victory.
It was a great Easter Sunday, the adults enjoying the game, the kids the egg hunt that followed. But, what do we take from it?
Excluding those who've decided a coaching change is the magic answer (keep in mind Florida's Kevin O' Sullivan is the same coach who went 1-11 and 5-1 since then), either long ago or perhaps as recent as the weekend, there is still a clear and pretty much undeniable point: the pace of recovery from the slow start needs to pick up. Going 5-4 the most recent nine games is good, but when blended with the 1-8 start, it just necessitates a higher winning percentage than the current 6-12 record down the stretch.
To be accurate, everyone goes to Hoover now, but the lower the seed, the longer the run needed to acquire qualifying and competing wins. The new 16-team field and single elimination format may now make it even easier for higher seeded teams to win and take the automatic bid, so don't count on that as the ticket in.
But, one way to start a run now is by winning the Tuesday night Governor's Cup game in Pearl against Ole Miss, who also happened to win only one of three over the weekend. But, their three-game series ended Saturday, before State even began game two, giving them that much more rest, albeit traveling back from Columbia, SC.
The game doesn't count in the SEC conference standings; but remember, if the day comes when Mississippi State is being evaluated for worthiness in the NCAA tournament, it actually can count as a conference win in the eyes of the selection committee criteria.
After Pearl, then it's go on the road to Auburn, who's been red hot at home, having swept LSU there a couple weeks back. The Tigers were themselves swept on the road over the weekend at Texas, who's playing like the best team in the nation right now, a team that also swept State but was not overwhelming and needed late scores for two of the wins.
Things are going to be clearer a week from today about how long of a shot postseason play is for Mississippi State. Funny thing is, this is the first season we can actually say right up to the last game of the regular season at Missouri that yes, we're telling you there's a chance. And, somebody, please, anybody, please please please, let Mizzou win at least one SEC game and not be 0-27 going into that series. The ju-ju that team seems to find when playing State, be it 2021, 2022, 2024, whenever, is downright chilling.
For now, the Bulldogs need to pick up the pace.
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