Bulldogs manage to split doubleheader against Ole Miss

STARKVILLE– Evan Siary saved Mississippi State's doubleheader, slicing up Ole Miss on Friday night in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Friday night at Dudy Noble Field.

The Rebels had taken the opener before Siary delivered eight scoreless innings for a 4-1 win in the nightcap.

A masterful pitching performance by Evan Siary led Mississippi State to a doubleheader split with No. 24 Ole Miss on at Dudy Noble Field. After the Bulldogs dropped the day's first game 10-4, Siary hurled eight scoreless innings in the nightcap as MSU earned a 4-1 win.

Siary collected his second win of the season with a career-best 15 strikeouts. He didn't walk a batter and surrendered only six hits.

Meanwhile the Bulldog bats made sure Siary's start didn't go to waste. Bryce Chance and Hunter Hines each had two hits in the contest with Chance driving in two runs. Hines and Joe Powell also had RBIs.

State took a 2-0 lead in the second inning and that score held untl MSU doubled its advantage in the bottom of the eighth. In the ninth, Ben Davis relieved Siary and while he allowed a run, he was able to record the final three outs to lock down the Diamond Dawg triumph.

It was a redemptive victory for MSU after falling in the double-dip's initial affair. A five-run fifth inning for Ole Miss gave the Rebels control and MSU was unable to fight back.

Ace Reese and Gehrig Frei each hit home runs in the ballgame, but it wasn't enough for MSU.

Pico Kohn started on the mound for State and suffered the loss, though he did strike out seven over five innings of work.

Following the day's action, MSU now sits at 30-20 overall this season with an 11-15 mark in Southeastern Conference play. Ole Miss is 34-16 overall and 14-12 in league action.

Mississippi State concludes its series against Ole Miss on Saturday with the game slated for a 7 p.m. start. The contest will be streamed on SEC Network+.

On the mound, the Diamond Dawgs plan to start senior right-handed pitcher Karson Ligon (4-5, 6.75 ERA) while Ole Miss challenges with senior righty Mason Nichols (3-1, 5.40 ERA).

Dawgs Game Notes:

• Reese hit his 17th home run of the spring in the bottom of the first in the first game of the doubleheader.
• Chance hit his first triple of the season and second in his career.
• Kohn struck out his 100th batter of the year.
• Noah Sullivan has reached base in 33 consecutive games.
• Reese extended his on-base streak to 16 games.
• The 14,468 fans in attendance for Friday's games now stands as the seventh-largest on-campus crowd in NCAA history. This is Dudy Noble Field's 141st crowd of over 10,000.
• Siary struck out a single-game high 15 batters, the highest of any active MSU pitcher both this season and career.
• Hines' RBI in the bottom of the eighth of the day's second game put his career total at 207. He is now tied for fourth in program history with Tommy Raffo.

Game 1 Summary

Top 1st
Austin Fawley hit a two-run home run down the right field line. Mitchell Stanford scored.
MSU 0, UM 2

Bottom 1st
Reese hit a solo home run to center.
MSU 1, UM 2

Bottom 4th
Chance hit a triple to right-field. Hines scored.
MSU 2, UM 2

Top 5th
Isaac Humphery scored on an error.
Judd Utermark hit a three-run home run down the left-field line. Sanford and Luke Cheng scored.
Collin Reuter hit a solo homer.
MSU 2, UM 7

Top 6th
Ryan Moerman hit a solo home run to left-field.
MSU 2, UM 8

Top 8th
Cheng grounded out to score Will Furniss.
Luke Hill singled to score Moerman.
MSU 2, UM 10

Bottom 8th
Frei hit a solo homer to center.
Sullivan singled to score Reeves.
MSU 4, UM 10

Game 2 Summary

Bottom 2nd
Chance singled to score Sullivan.
Powell grounded out to score Hines.
MSU 2, UM 0

Bottom 8th
Hines singled to score Michael O'Brien, who pinch ran for Frei.
Chance singled to center. Sullivan scored.
MSU 4, UM 0

Top 9th
Moerman flied out to score Fawley.
MSU 4, UM 1

Game notes and scoring summaries provided by Mississippi State Athletics

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