Mississippi State Review/Preview: The Breathing Room Is Shrinking

Evan Siary had probably his best game as a Bulldog in the 12-7 win over Auburn (Mississippi State Athletics photo)

By Doug Kyle

The popular rock band Maroon 5 had a Top 40 hit about 20 years ago called Harder To Breathe, which had a memorable line in the chorus of “Is there anyone out there, ‘cause it’s getting harder and harder to breathe.”

That tune which my kids made me hip to back in the day popped in my head Sunday afternoon, after Mississippi State dropped a 14-8 rubber game, and in the process, an SEC series, to Auburn. This time, though, the paraphrased tune I’m humming is by Maroon 9, with the words “Are there any wins out there, ‘cause it’s getting less and less room to breathe.”

There were positives in the Friday night series opener at Auburn, a home run by Noah Sullivan and two RBI, a home run by Joe Powell and three RBI, and perhaps most of all, a gutty 5-5 performance headed into the bottom of the 7th by Pico Kohn. It would wind up a 6-5 loss, though, when Kohn, risked perhaps a batter too long due to thin ranks in the bullpen, gave up the decisive run with two outs, on his only walk of the game and a foul-line-hugging double on his 121st pitch.

It was that close, which made it all the more agonizing, similar to the Tuesday night game in Pearl, MS, when Ole Miss got a one-out game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th off Ryan McPherson and the winning one with two out in the 10th off Luke Dotson to beat State 8-7. The SEC doesn’t count it as a conference game, but the NCAA would’ve.

To their credit, though, the Bulldogs bounced back at Auburn and came out Saturday like they meant business. Ace Reese and Hunter Hines both had two-run homers in the 1st, the opening-inning scoring streak having been broken the night before, and after Auburn got a run in the 3rd, six more Bulldogs scored in the 4th to make it 10-1.

But, it was early in the game, and the homestanding Tigers chipped away, eventually getting to within 11-7 after the 8th before MSU tacked on the final run in the 9th for a 12-7 victory.

Evan Siary started and had probably his best game as a Bulldog, going six innings and managing four hits for three runs. Stone Simmons followed and struggled with the big lead, giving up four runs in 1 1/3 innings, but Nate Williams and Luke Dotson took up the slack and shut the door after that.

Sunday, Auburn drew first blood with a couple runs in the 1st, but State evened things at 2-2 in the top of the 2nd before Auburn recorded their own six-run bottom half, taking an 8-2 lead to the 3rd when State could answer only with an Ace Reese home run leading off.

Auburn tacked on three more in the 4th to widen the lead to 11-3, but even then, the Bulldogs chipped away, getting two, one, and one (a Hines homer, #64), to move within 11-7 in the 7th. But, Auburn struck for three more and led 14-7 headed to the 9th, when Reese got his second homer of the game and team-leading 16th of the season. But, it wasn’t enough and MSU fell to 7-14 in the SEC.

There are 11 games left, 9 SEC, on the regular season schedule, beginning with this Tuesday's home game against Memphis. Super Bulldog Weekend arrives Friday, along with the Kentucky Wildcats. No midweek precedes Ole Miss coming in the following weekend, then the final midweek, with North Alabama, before the regular season ends at Missouri with the usual Thursday-Friday-Saturday schedule.

With the remaining conference series head to head with the 11th, 5th, and 16th place teams, even if they somehow managed three sweeps, State is still most likely looking at playing on the first day of the SEC Tournament, Tuesday, May 20, as part of Seeds 9-16. Seeds 5-8 play those winners Wednesday, May 21 (two days of four-a-days), then Seeds 1-4 play those winners on Thursday and Friday (two per day), May 22-23. A 1-4 seed can therefore win the SECT in three games, a 5-8 team must win four, and a 9-16 team must win five for the auto bid. Here's the bracket:

https://www.secsports.com/championships/baseball-championship#bracket

We said last week State needed to pick up the pace, and that still applies. But, anything is still in play at this point. I’m not going to foolishly predict State will host, it being only a remote, but mathematical, possibility at this point. And, I’m not going to say everything is going to be fine, as the degree of difficulty edges higher as the number of opportunities continues to dwindle. The breathing room, as the song goes, gets harder and harder.

But, in the words of Yogi, it’s not over until it’s over. Draw your own conclusions and predictions at this point, put some money on that insight if you’re so inclined. The path changes game to game and week to week, but yeah, I’m still telling you there’s a chance.

Until there’s not.

*****