Small, State Start Series with Shutout

Friday, April 12

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

29-6, 8-5

Alabama

23-12, 4-9

Alabama

Mississippi State

Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics

Small, State Start Series with Shutout

April 12, 2019 | Baseball

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A 15-strikeout effort for Small leads Bulldogs to first regular season SEC shutout since 2016

by: Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVLLE – Redshirt-junior Ethan Small dazzled and a four-run second inning was more than enough as the No. 5 Mississippi State baseball team cruised to a 6-0 victory over Alabama to open Super Bulldog Weekend at Dudy Noble Field on Friday (April 12) evening.

The left hander recorded 15 of his 18 outs via strikeouts in his six innings of work. The career-high 15 strikeouts bested his 13 Ks from earlier this season versus Southern Miss and are the most in an SEC game in 2019. After loading the bases with no outs in the second inning, Small retired seven-straight Alabama (23-12, 4-9 SEC) hitters via strikeout.

Overall, Small (4-0) struck out multiple hitters in each of the first five innings to help Mississippi State (29-6, 8-5 SEC) to an SEC regular season shutout for the first time since May 19, 2016 versus Arkansas (7-0). It was the first shutout of an SEC opponent since a 3-0 victory over Georgia at the SEC Tournament in 2017.

Senior Jared Liebelt threw two innings of one-hit relief and junior Colby White tossed the final inning and issued only a walk. Liebelt fanned two, while White struck out one to push State's total to 18 strikeouts on the game.

The offense gave its starting pitcher an early lead, scoring four runs in the second inning, before adding two runs in the seventh to cap the scoring.

At the plate, a four-run second inning got the Bulldogs an early cushion as freshman Brad Cumbest plated the first run with an RBI single, before sophomore Jordan Westburg delivered a three-run home run. Senior Elijah MacNamee and sophomore Justin Foscue each chipped in RBI hits in the seventh inning.

Overall, four Diamond Dawgs posted multi-hit games, while Westburg logged the lone multi-RBI effort. Cumbest, MacNamee, sophomore Tanner Allen and junior Gunner Halter all collected two hits in the series opener. Senior Jake Mangum was 1-for-5 and scored a pair of runs.

Quotable
Head Coach Chris Lemonis
On Ethan Small's night
"In our world, we're hoping they'd hit a couple fly ball outs or something like that because we want him to pitch longer. You realize it's just pitch after pitch but, it's just dominant. When he strikes out the side with the bases loaded, that's when you realize 'This guy's special.' He's been special all year, but he can reel it in when he wants to."

Jordan Westburg
On the team's steady approach to the offense
"There's never a rush in our offense. There's never pressure. We have so many weapons up and down the lineup. Our nine-hole guy has a couple of hits, Brad [Cumbest], our DH, has a couple hits tonight. Guys are always coming up in situations and doing their job. So, there's never a feel of worry in our lineup."

Ethan Small
On what it means to perform like he did on Super Bulldog Weekend
"Pretty surreal. It hasn't really sunk in yet that that's what happened. Really special though. This weekend's meant a lot to us for a long time and we appreciate the support for sure."

Quick Hitters
Mississippi State
SEC Shutouts – Three pitchers combined to post Mississippi State's first regular season SEC shutout since May 19, 2016 versus Arkansas. It is the first shutout of an SEC opponent since the 2017 SEC Tournament, when MSU defeated Georgia, 3-0.
Ethan Small – Fanned a career-high 15 batters to earn his fourth win of the year. The double-digit strikeout game was his seventh of the season and eighth of his career. Allowed three hits and walked three.
Jordan Westburg – Hit his sixth home run of the season and posted his 10th multi-RBI game of the season.
Jake Mangum – With his lone hit of the night moved into a tie for No. 2 on the SEC's all-time hits chart and pushed his current hitting streak to 15 games.
Streaks Continue – Two other Bulldogs extended streaks to double-digits in the game, as Justin Foscue moved his hitting streak to seven games and his reached base streak to 15 games. Dustin Skelton pushed his reached base streak 19 games.

Alabama
Sam Finnerty – Kept Mississippi State off balance outside of the four-run second inning. Allowed four runs on nine hits. Didn't walk a batter and struck out four.
Keith Holcombe – Reached base twice with a walk and a double.
Kolby Robinson – Walked and doubled in the game.

Scoring Recap
Bottom Second
The Diamond Dawgs scored four runs on five hits in the second inning, as Rowdey Jordan started the frame with a single. After Dustin Skelton moved the runner up one base with a ground out, Brad Cumbest singled to plate the first run of the game. With two on and two out, Jordan Westburg delivered his sixth home run of the season to right field for a three-run shot.
Mississippi State 4, Alabama 0

Bottom Seventh
State added a pair of runs in the seventh inning as Mangum singled to start the seventh, moved from first to third on a ground out and scored two batters later on an Elijah MacNamee single up the middle. Justin Foscue then doubled off the top of the left-center field wall to score Tanner Allen from second.
Mississippi State 6, Alabama 0

Up Next
The second game in the series will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, before the series final is slated for 3 p.m. on the SEC Network on Sunday, April 14. Tickets for all games are available by clicking here.