STARKVILLE – Jordan Westburg called Mississippi State’s loss to Texas Southern on Tuesday an embarrassing one. He took it upon himself to make sure the Bulldogs wouldn’t be embarrassed again against Alcorn State on Wednesday.
Westburg’s big blast in the bottom of the seventh inning broke the game open for the Bulldogs, but he did much more than hit one 410-foot bomb over Dudy Noble Field’s right-field fence in Mississippi State’s 8-4 win.
Needing some consistency at the top of the order, the Bulldogs (6-2) leaned on Westburg all afternoon. He went 2-for-3 and reached base two other times on walks. Each time he got on, he scored. His two-run homer was the swing of the bat that served as the knockout blow to the believing Braves.
"Personally, I didn't want to go to sleep last night," Westburg said of his emotions after the loss to Texas Southern. "I was extremely pissed off, embarrassed, whatever word you want to describe it. I just wasn't happy."
"I'm sure he slept more than I did too," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis quipped. "I felt the same way. I think most of our ballclub did."
Left-handed junior Houston Harding was tasked with getting Mississippi State started on the right foot this time around. Harding sat Alcorn State down in order in the top of the first. He sandwiched a pop out around two strike outs.
Harding struck out seven batters in four innings. Though his final line will show that he allowed four earned runs in those frames, he only gave up one by the time he had recorded his 12th out. He tried to pitch through the fifth, but he loaded the bases before he could record a single out.
The fourth batter Harding faced in the fifth singled to drive home two runs and pull Alcorn State within two runs at 5-3. Right-handed junior Chase Patrick replaced Harding to make his third appearance of the year. He inherited runners at the corners and zero outs. The runner on third stole home when catcher Logan Tanner tried to pick the runner off at first.
Suddenly, MSU's lead had been cut down to one, 5-4. But that was the last run the Braves scored against a Mississippi State team that pitched pretty well outside of Harding's lapse to start the fifth.
"I'd like to see him be a little more efficient, but I thought he was pretty good out there," Lemonis said of Harding. "We're going to need him. He's a guy we're going to need in the midweek. He's an older kid, a competitive kid. I like what he did today."
Lemonis really liked what the first half of his batting order did, too. Outside of a rough game from junior leadoff man Rowdey Jordan, who went 1-for-6 with a couple of strikeouts, Mississippi State got what it needed from its most prominent players.
Westburg, of course, led the way. Juniors Tanner Allen and Justin Foscue pitched in with two hits apiece. In the five-hole, sophomore designated hitter Luke Hancock went 1-for-5 but he also drove in two runs.
The top five hitters in Mississippi State's order accounted for seven of the team's eight runs. Sophomore right fielder Brad Cumbest, hitting out of the No. 6 spot, accounted for the other with a solo home run.
Lemonis needs those bats to travel west for a three-game series against Long Beach State (6-2) starting at 8 p.m. CT Friday. He also needs the bullpen to continue performing well. Four MSU relievers combined to pitch five scoreless innings Wednesday.
Consistency in both phases of the game will be important against a Long Beach State team that has won four straight games, including a series sweep of No. 24 Wake Forest. The Dirtbags enter the weekend coming off a 10-3 win over San Diego on Tuesday.
"Long Beach State, they are good and they are playing really good right now," Lemonis said. "So it's going to be a good test for us, and we're learning a lot about our team."
"It's going to be a test," Westburg added. "They're a tough ballclub over there, and it's going to be a tough three games. We're going to see what we're made of, and hopefully we can come out with a sweep or a series win."
How it happened: Inning by inning recap
Bottom 1: Junior two-hole hitter Jordan Westburg got the MSU rally started with a walk. He advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Junior right fielder Tanner Allen and junior second baseman Justin Foscue singled in succession to drive Westburg home, giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Top 2: Alcorn State senior Hunter Wilson blasted a 2-2 fastball over the right field fence to tie the ballgame. Harding struck out the first batter of the frame and got the two after Wilson’s to fly out.
Bottom 2: Mississippi State sophomore Brad Cumbest answered Wilson's blast to right with one of his own. He led off the inning with a lined shot. Sophomore Landon Jordan tried to start another Bulldog rally with a walk, but three straight outs after his free pass thwarted the effort.
Top 3: Harding issued a walk to the third batter of the frame, but he got the other three to go down on strike out, a ground out and a pop out. He pushed his strikeout total to four and only needed 51 pitches to get through the first three frames.
Bottom 3: Westburg worked his way on base again with a leadoff infield single. Allen walked, and Foscue reached on a bloop single to center field to load the bases with zero outs. Sophomore Luke Hancock drove two runs home with a single into right. MSU upped its advantage to 4-1.
The damage could have been worse, but Alcorn State recorded three straight outs after the Hancock single to strand Bulldog runners at second and third. Cumbest struck out, Landon Jordan fouled out and freshman Logan Tanner grounded out to second.
Top 4: Harding walked the leadoff batter and the second reached on a fielding error by Rowdey Jordan in center. After a mound visit from MSU pitching coach Scott Foxhall, Harding struck out the next three batters he faced to increase his K total to seven.
Bottom 4: Alcorn State went to the bullpen as Lane Gordon relieved starter George Osborne. It worked, at first. Hatcher grounded out and Rowdey Jordan struck out. The Westburg reached base for the third time of the day on a walk. Allen drove him home with a double to push Mississippi State's lead to 5-1.
Top 5: Harding stayed on the mound to start the fifth, and MSU head coach Chris Lemonis paid the price for leaving him out there. Harding failed to record an out while getting shelled for three singles and a walk. The third base hit knocked in two runs to pull Alcorn State to within two runs, 5-3.
Right-handed junior Chase Patrick replaced Harding to make his third appearance of the year. He inherited runners at the corners and zero outs. The runner on third stole home when catcher Logan Tanner tried to pick the runner off at first.
Patrick eventually struck out the side to get Mississippi State out of the inning.
Bottom 5: Cumbest struck out and Landon Jordan grounded out to start the frame, but singles from Tanner and Hatcher gave the Braves reason to worry. Gordon got Rowdey Jordan to ground out to get out of trouble. Jordan fell to 0-4 on the day.
Top 6: Patrick sat the Braves down in order in the sixth on two strike outs and a ground out. Patrick pushed his K total to five through two innings. He only needed 30 pitches to get through them.
Bottom 6: Mississippi State left the bags loaded. Allen reached on a walk, Foscue on a single and sophomore Brandon Pimentel on a hit by pitch while pinch hitting for Cumbest. Landon Jordan had an opportunity to break the game open, but he struck out.
Top 7: Junior lefty Jared Shemper took over for Patrick on the mound. He retired three of the four batters he faced to maintain the 5-4 Mississippi State lead going into the seventh inning stretch.
Bottom 7: Logan Tanner started the inning with a hard-hit ball to shortstop. The play was ruled an error. He advanced to second on Hatcher's ground out to third. Rowdey Jordan singled him home with a chopper that got through first. Mississippi State stretched its lead to 6-4.
Westburg broke the game open with a two-run, 410-foot home run to deep right center. It marked the fourth time in five at bats at Westburg reached base. He scored four of MSU's eight runs to that point in the game, too.
Top 8: Junior righty Jaxen Forrester replaced Shemper. He struck out the side, but he also gave up a single and a walk. He did his job to get Mississippi State into the bottom of the frame with its 8-4 lead intact.
Bottom 8: Mississippi State failed to generate any more insurance runs as the Bulldogs stranded runners on second and third. They entered the top of the ninth with their 8-4 lead.
Top 9: Senior righty Riley Self ran to the bump to try to close the game out. He struck out the first two batters he faced. The third reached on a Rowdey Jordan error. After walking the fourth batter, Self finished the frame and the game on a ground out to third.
Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter. To read more of Tyler's work, subscribe to the Clarion Ledger today!
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