Mississippi State Rallies to Beat Gators

The Mississippi State Bulldogs made a come back late in the game to beat the Florida Gators 6-3 in the first game of their three-game series. The Gators held a lead until the Bulldogs scored 4 runs in the 8th inning. The Gators now have a 41-13 record and are 20-8 in conference record. While the Bulldogs have a 29-24 record and 13-15 in conference record.

Pitching

Tommy Mace pitched great in his first SEC start. He pitched through 6.1 innings holding the Bulldogs to no runs and only giving up three hits. He also had a career-high five strikeouts. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan thought Mace did very well. “In the grand scheme of things, he threw outstanding, even more than I thought. I probably could have left him in there in the seventh but I was really trying to be careful about him coming away feeling good about himself because we’ll really need him down the stretch.”

What a night from freshman Tommy Mace in his first career SEC start:
6.1 IP (career high)
3 H
1 R
0 BB
5 K (career high)

End 7 | #Gators 3, MSU 2 pic.twitter.com/IQ1CuVCuZg

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 18, 2018

Mace was relieved by Jordan Butler in the 7th where he gave up a 2 run homer. Then in the middle 8th, Michael Byrne came in to replace Butler. Byrne gave up 3 hits for 3 runs.

Game Recap

In the top of the third, Blake Reese hit a ground-rule double. Deacon Liput singled through the left side to score Reese. Then Nelson Maldonado singled to center and moved Liput to second. Soon after Jonathan India walked moving Liput to third and Maldonado to second. Then Schwarz hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Liput. Putting the Gators on the board 2-0.

Austen Langworthy hit a solo homer to right field in the top of the 6th to make the game 3-0 Gators.

#AustinPowers one out to right!

His first homer of the season puts the #Gators ahead 3-0 in the sixth. #GatorTater pic.twitter.com/lARGHrVD8w

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 18, 2018

In the bottom of the 7th, Hunter Stovall singled to left field. Then Elijah MacNamee hit a homer to center that scored Stovall, putting the Bulldogs on the board with two runs.

In the bottom of the 8th, Marshall Gilbert walked and Jordan Anderson pinch ran for Gilbert. Jordan Westburg bunted and reached on a throwing error by the catcher (Schwarz), which also advanced Anderson to second. Then Jake Mangum hit a triple down the right-field line scoring Westburg and Anderson. Soon after Tanner Allen hit a home run to right field scoring Mangum. To make the final score 6-3 Bulldogs.

Up Next

Th Gators will take on the Bulldogs again Friday in Starkville at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. Also, Saturday’s game is set for 4:30 p.m. on ESPNU.