The University of Mississippi Athletics
Sunday, April 18
Starkville, Miss.
1 PM
Ole Miss
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Mississippi State
27-8, 0
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Ole Miss
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Mississippi State
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No. 6 Baseball Falls in Series Finale to No. 3 MSU
4/18/2021 | Baseball
Leatherwood's Two-Homer Day Not Enough as Rebels Drop Game 3, 7-5
STARKVILLE, Miss. – It was a back-and-forth series finale at Dudy Noble Field, but a big sixth inning from No. 3 Mississippi State proved the difference as No. 6 Ole Miss dropped Game 3, 7-5.
Drew McDaniel turned in a terrific start, pitching in the Sunday starter role for the first time. He went 5.1 innings with two runs allowed on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts. However, Mississippi State bruised the Rebel bullpen for five runs, all in the sixth inning. Offensively, Hayden Leatherwood was the only Rebel with a multi-hit day, going 2-for-4 with two home runs.
MSU plated the game's first run in the second inning on an RBI single by Lane Forsythe, but the Rebels quickly answered. Jacob Gonzalez started the two-out rally with a walk, winning a nine-pitch battle. Peyton Chatagnier followed with a single through the left side, then Kevin Graham and Hayden Dunhurst drew consecutive walks to bring home the tying run. The Bulldogs then went to the bullpen, bringing out lefty Houston Harding, who induced a flyout to escape the jam.
The Rebels took the lead in the fourth on a line-drive solo home run by Leatherwood. Meanwhile, McDaniel was cooking on the hill, retiring 10 straight Bulldog batters until Rowdey Jordan lifted a solo shot over the right field wall in the fifth to tie the game at two.
Ole Miss regained the lead in the sixth with some more two-out magic, starting with a TJ McCants walk. Leatherwood then crushed his second home run of the day over the stands in right field to make it a 4-2 Rebel lead.
With one out and nobody on in the bottom half of the sixth, Mallitz relieved McDaniel on the hill and gave up three straight base hits to cut the lead to one and bring Austin Miller out of the bullpen. Miller struck out the first batter he faced before giving up an RBI single to Scotty Dubrule to tie the game at four, but the home team wasn't finished. After Taylor Broadway entered for Miller, Tanner Allen drove a bases-loaded triple into left-center to give MSU a 7-4 advantage.
Looking to respond, the Rebels loaded the bases in top of the seventh after a leadoff double by Ben Van Cleve, a hit-by-pitch issued to Chatagnier and a walk by Dunhurst. However, Justin Bench grounded into a fielder's choice to end the threat.
Ole Miss got one run back in the eighth, beginning with a two-out single by Cael Baker. Van Cleve then grounded one to the MSU third baseman, who overthrew first base, allowing Baker to come around and score, cutting the lead to two.
Mississippi State turned to its closer Landon Sims in the ninth. Similar to Game 1, Dunhurst reached base, this time on a fielding error by the Bulldog shortstop. However, Ole Miss wasn't able to put together a rally as Bench grounded into a fielder's choice to end the contest.
Ole Miss returns home Tuesday to start an eight-game homestand, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch against Little Rock.
Quick Hits
- Ole Miss falls to 26-10 on the season and 9-6 in SEC play.
- The Rebels fall to 249-211-5 all-time against MSU.
- Kevin Graham increased his reached-base streak to 29 games.
- Drew McDaniel's 5.1 innings pitched were a career-best in SEC play and one shy of his career-high of 5.2, set earlier this season against ULM (3/13).
- Hayden Leatherwood recorded his first career multi-homer game.
- Leatherwood's three RBI tied a season-high, and his two runs scored tied a career-best.
Drew McDaniel turned in a terrific start, pitching in the Sunday starter role for the first time. He went 5.1 innings with two runs allowed on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts. However, Mississippi State bruised the Rebel bullpen for five runs, all in the sixth inning. Offensively, Hayden Leatherwood was the only Rebel with a multi-hit day, going 2-for-4 with two home runs.
MSU plated the game's first run in the second inning on an RBI single by Lane Forsythe, but the Rebels quickly answered. Jacob Gonzalez started the two-out rally with a walk, winning a nine-pitch battle. Peyton Chatagnier followed with a single through the left side, then Kevin Graham and Hayden Dunhurst drew consecutive walks to bring home the tying run. The Bulldogs then went to the bullpen, bringing out lefty Houston Harding, who induced a flyout to escape the jam.
The Rebels took the lead in the fourth on a line-drive solo home run by Leatherwood. Meanwhile, McDaniel was cooking on the hill, retiring 10 straight Bulldog batters until Rowdey Jordan lifted a solo shot over the right field wall in the fifth to tie the game at two.
Ole Miss regained the lead in the sixth with some more two-out magic, starting with a TJ McCants walk. Leatherwood then crushed his second home run of the day over the stands in right field to make it a 4-2 Rebel lead.
With one out and nobody on in the bottom half of the sixth, Mallitz relieved McDaniel on the hill and gave up three straight base hits to cut the lead to one and bring Austin Miller out of the bullpen. Miller struck out the first batter he faced before giving up an RBI single to Scotty Dubrule to tie the game at four, but the home team wasn't finished. After Taylor Broadway entered for Miller, Tanner Allen drove a bases-loaded triple into left-center to give MSU a 7-4 advantage.
Looking to respond, the Rebels loaded the bases in top of the seventh after a leadoff double by Ben Van Cleve, a hit-by-pitch issued to Chatagnier and a walk by Dunhurst. However, Justin Bench grounded into a fielder's choice to end the threat.
Ole Miss got one run back in the eighth, beginning with a two-out single by Cael Baker. Van Cleve then grounded one to the MSU third baseman, who overthrew first base, allowing Baker to come around and score, cutting the lead to two.
Mississippi State turned to its closer Landon Sims in the ninth. Similar to Game 1, Dunhurst reached base, this time on a fielding error by the Bulldog shortstop. However, Ole Miss wasn't able to put together a rally as Bench grounded into a fielder's choice to end the contest.
Ole Miss returns home Tuesday to start an eight-game homestand, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch against Little Rock.
Quick Hits
- Ole Miss falls to 26-10 on the season and 9-6 in SEC play.
- The Rebels fall to 249-211-5 all-time against MSU.
- Kevin Graham increased his reached-base streak to 29 games.
- Drew McDaniel's 5.1 innings pitched were a career-best in SEC play and one shy of his career-high of 5.2, set earlier this season against ULM (3/13).
- Hayden Leatherwood recorded his first career multi-homer game.
- Leatherwood's three RBI tied a season-high, and his two runs scored tied a career-best.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Harding, Houston (4-1)
L: Miller, Austin (0-1)
S: Sims, Landon (5)
Batting:
2B: Bench, Justin 1 ; Van Cleve, Ben 1
HR: Leatherwood, Hayden 2
RBI: Dunhurst, Hayden 1 ; Leatherwood, Hayden 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Gonzalez, Jacob 1 ; McCants, TJ 1 ; Leatherwood, Hayden 2 ; Baker, Cael 1
HBP: Chatagnier, Peyton 1
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Batting:
2B: Tanner, Logan 1
3B: Allen, Tanner 1
HR: Jordan, Rowdey 1
RBI: Jordan, Rowdey 1 ; Allen, Tanner 3 ; Skinner, Brayland 1 ; Forsythe, Lane 1 ; Dubrule, Scotty 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jordan, Rowdey 2 ; Tanner, Logan 1 ; Hatcher, Josh 1 ; Skinner, Brayland 2 ; Dubrule, Scotty 1
SB: Skinner, Brayland 1
HBP: Allen, Tanner 1
Game Leaders
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RBI
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H
1
RBI
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AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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/ BaseballIF/OF
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/ Baseball
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IF
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