Baseball Takes Midweek Decision from Texas Southern

Tuesday, April 16

Starkville

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

32-6

Texas Southern

11-26

Texas Southern

Mississippi State

Baseball Takes Midweek Decision from Texas Southern

April 16, 2019 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Quotes (PDF)Photo Gallery (Web)

Foscue delivers go-ahead RBI in the eighth inning to help MSU stay perfect in midweek games

by: Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – The game of baseball can be an unpredictable game and on Tuesday (April 16) evening it was just that for the No. 3 Mississippi State baseball program in its 5-1 victory over Texas Southern at Dudy Noble Field.

In the midst of eight games in 11 days, the Mississippi State (32-6) took an early 1-0 lead over Texas Southern (11-26) in the first inning, before the Tigers plated the equalizer in the third thanks to an MSU error. Then it was four innings of nothing for either side, before the Diamond Dawgs scored four runs in the eighth to push the midweek record to 12-0.

Seven different MSU pitchers combined to allowed one unearned run on two hits. The staff walked six and struck out eight in the game. The Tigers two hits came in the first two at bats of the game, meaning the MSU squad didn't allow a hit over the final 30 plate appearances in the game.

Junior Colby White (2-1) earned the victory with a clean eighth inning of work, striking out one.

At the plate, senior Jake Mangum singled and came around to score in the first inning to move his hitting streak to 18 games, while sophomore Justin Foscue drove in the game-winning run with an RBI single to start the scoring in the eighth inning, pushing his hitting streak to 10 games.

Junior Dustin Skelton came off the bench as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and got his lone at bat in the eighth, promptly hitting a three-run home run to extend the MSU lead and move his reached base streak to 22 games.

Senior Elijah MacNamee got the scoring started with an RBI double in the first inning, scoring Mangum.

Quotable
Head Coach Chris Lemonis
On the slow offensive start to the game
"I think you have to tip your hat to their guy who pitched tonight [Alex Olguin]. I thought he pitched a great game. Especially for a freshman, to come in here and pitch with that composure, it's tough. He was mixing pitches, probably a little below bat speed. It made it tough on our guys, so they were starting to get frustrated there."

Justin Foscue
On the frustrating night at the plate
"I thought we put a few good at bats [together] in the first [inning]. We had hits in the first couple of innings, we just couldn't get that last one to get some runs. Their guy settled in. We got ourselves out a few times when we didn't swing at the right pitches. We were swinging out of the zone. That eighth inning, Tanner Allen and Elijah MacNamee put some at bats together. It was more about putting more at bats together and swinging at the right pitches. I think that is what we should have done better."

Quick Hitters
Mississippi State
Jake Mangum – Moved his hitting streak to 18 games with a first-inning single. Scored the first run of the game.
Justin Foscue – Drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the eighth inning to move his hitting streak to 10 games.
Dustin Skelton – Entered as a defensive replacement in the seventh. Hit a three-run home run for his eighth homer of the season in the eighth. Pushed his reached base streak to 22 games.
Pitching Staff – Allowed one unearned run and held Texas Southern hitless in the final 30 plate appearances of the game. Walked six and struck out eight.

Texas Southern
Alex Olguin – Allowed four runs in 7 2/3 innings of work. Walked two and struck out three, allowing nine hits on 103 pitches.
Christian Sanchez – Reached base twice with a single and a walk. Scored the lone run of the game for TSU.
Olajide Oloruntimilehin – Walked three times in the game.

Scoring Recap
Bottom First
Jake Mangum singled, moved to second on failed pickoff attempt and third on the ground out. After a strikeout, Elijah MacNamee doubled to score Mangum and give MSU the early lead.
Mississippi State 1, Texas Southern 0

Top Third
After reliever Keegan James retired the first two batters of the inning, he issued back-to-back walks to Christian Sanchez and Olajide Oloruntimilehin. The pair broke on a double steal, successfully advancing, and a throwing error down to third allowed the lead runner to score.
Mississippi State 1, Texas Southern 1

Bottom Eighth
The first three batters reached in the inning as Tanner Allen was hit by a pitch in front of a MacNamee single. Following a wild pitch, Justin Foscue singled through the left side to plate the go-ahead run. After a sacrifice bunt from Rowdey Jordan scored the third run, Dustin Skelton delivered his eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot, to cap the scoring.
Mississippi State 5, Texas Southern 1

Up Next
Mississippi State hits the road for a three-game series starting on Thursday, April 18 at Arkansas. The series opener will air on ESPNU starting at 8 p.m. CT. Friday's contest is slated for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch, while Saturday's game is at 2 p.m.