The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team came into this weekend ready to play, as evidenced by its most recent drubbing of the Florida Gators.
MSU (31-24, 15-15 SEC), ran UF starting pitcher Jackson Kowar off the mound on Saturday to the tune of nine hits and seven runs (six earned) in 5.2 innings.
“We didn't get off to a good start on the mound,” O’Sullivan said in a release.
The Bulldogs tacked on four more runs against Florida reliever Jordan Butler, and added two more insurance runs off closer Michael Byrne, pulling up to a final score of 13-6.
Florida (41-15, 20-10 SEC), to its own credit, chased Mississippi State starter Jacob Billingsley after only two innings of work, earning three runs (two earned).
A slew of MSU relievers were brought in to slow down the potent Gators attack. Over the course of the game, five different Bulldog pitchers were used with none throwing more than two innings or giving up more than two earned runs.
It was evident that Mississippi State came in with something to prove, notching four runs before the first inning ended. UF would respond with two more of its own in the second before MSU matched that with two in the third.
Once again, the Gators answered, as UF would score two more in the top of the fourth.
In the eighth inning, though, the Starkville home crowd prevailed and the Bulldogs would blow the game out of reach. The game was 7-6 going into the inning.
It was 13-6 coming out.
The combo of Butler and Byrne couldn’t hold back the onslaught and Mississippi State went on to score six in the frame.
UF’s offense showed up on Saturday even though the defense didn’t. Designated hitter Nelson Maldonado went 3-for-5 with all hits as singles.
Left fielder Austin Langworthy went 2-for-4 with two singles and shortstop Deacon Liput went 2-for-3 with a triple and a home run.
Of the 10 MSU hitters that received an at-bat Saturday, eight of them recorded at least one hit.
Center fielder Jake Mangum and right fielder Elijah MacNamee shined for the Bulldogs, each getting three hits and a home run. MacNamee also cranked two doubles in addition to his homer.
Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan didn’t seemed too stressed out about the sweep.
“It was just one of those days, one of those weekends,” O’Sullivan said. “I'm going to take some time to reflect back on the weekend. We just got beat in every phase.”
The Gators begin the SEC Tournament on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in Hoover, Alabama.
You can follow Chris O’Brien on Twitter @THEChrisOB and contact him at cobrien@alligator.org.
Junior Deacon Liput went 2-for-3 with a home run and a triple during Saturday afternoon's 13-6 loss to Mississippi State. The Bulldogs completed a series sweep of the Gators with the win.
