Mississippi State
17-12
Memphis
11-17
State Rallies For Midweek Win At Memphis
April 01, 2025 | Baseball
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Mississippi State rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat Memphis 5-3 on the road Tuesday night.
The Diamond Dawgs fell behind 3-0 in the third inning but started mounting their comeback on a solo homer by Hunter Hines in the following frame. Hines' blast was the 61st of his career, tying him with Will Clark (1983-85) for the second-most in school history.
A sacrifice fly by Ace Reese drew MSU closer in the sixth and a solo shot by Noah Sullivan in the same inning tied things up. Sawyer Reeves gave the Bulldogs the lead for good with a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh and Nolan Stevens added an insurance run on an RBI single in the eighth.
State (17-12) finished with six hits, led by Gehrig Frei and Dylan Cupp, each with a double. Reese, Sullivan, Hines, Reeves and Stevens all had an RBI in the State triumph.
Ryan McPherson picked up the win in relief to improve to 2-0 on the mound. McPherson logged a career-high four scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, no walks and only surrendered one hit. Stone Simmons came on to pitch the final two shutout fames, striking out four and earning his first save of the spring.
The loss was the ninth straight for Memphis, who fell to 11-17 on the year. The Tigers finished with eight hits on the night.
On Deck:
Mississippi State is back in Starkville this weekend for a three-game series against South Carolina. First pitches are set for Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All games will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Game Notes:
- Hines hit his 61st career home run to tie him with Will Clark for second all-time at Mississippi State.
- Hines also leads all active Division I players in career homers.
- McPherson recorded a new single-game career high for strikeouts after punching out eight batters in a career-long four innings.
- The Diamond Dawgs earned their ninth-straight non-conference victory and have now won their last six midweek games.
Scoring Summary:
Bottom 3rd
Daniel Perez scored on a single.
James Smith IV and Will Vasseur scored on a single by Cade Tucker.
MSU 0, MEM 3
Top 4th
Hines hit a solo home run to right-center.
MSU 1, MEM 3
Top 6th
Cupp scored on a sacrifice fly by Reese.
Sullivan hit a homer to left center.
MSU 3, MEM 3
Top 7th
Stevens scored on a single by Reeves.
MSU 4, MEM 3
Top 8th
Frei scored on a single by Stevens.
MSU 5, MEM 3
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McPherson, Ryan (2-0)
L: DONAHUE, HAYDEN (0-2)
S: Simmons, Stone (1)
Batting:
2B: Frei, Gehrig 1 ; Cupp, Dylan 1
HR: Sullivan, Noah 1 ; Hines, Hunter 1
RBI: Reese, Ace 1 ; Sullivan, Noah 1 ; Hines, Hunter 1 ; Stevens, Nolan 1 ; Reeves, Sawyer 1
SH: Highfill, Ross 1
SF: Reese, Ace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Frei, Gehrig 1 ; Sullivan, Noah 1 ; Hines, Hunter 1 ; Stevens, Nolan 1 ; Cupp, Dylan 1
Batting:
RBI: SMITH IV, JAMES 1 ; TUCKER, CADE 2
Base Running:
RUNS: PEREZ, DANIEL 1 ; VASSEUR, WILL 1 ; SMITH IV, JAMES 1
SB: PEREZ, DANIEL 1 ; SMITH IV, JAMES 1 ; TURNER, CY 2
