Reliever Ross Mitchell threw 7 strikeouts in 8 innings in MSU's 3-2 loss.
Shock fell through the Mississippi State community. Message board users showed their frustration and anger in absolute amazement. But, there were some folks that took a look at it the positive way. The starting pitcher during that Friday game, Jeremy Null, was picked the preseason best pitcher in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina was picked preseason Southern Conference champions. ESPN ranked them in their "teams to watch by June" list. This was not as bad of a loss as people would ultimately think. Everyone then thought that Saturday is a new day.
Mississippi State and Western Carolina were set to play at 4 PM on the 15th of February, 2014. Over 9,000 fans were in attendance with sunny, not too chili conditions, compared to Friday night's cold, rainy weather. It was a new day, a new game, a new beginning.
MSU's starting pitcher was Trevor Fitts, and he had a brilliant day. In the first inning, it only took him five batters to get out of the inning, and had a shutout through four innings. The one thing that eluded the Bulldogs in Friday's game was the bats. Mississippi State was cold offensively, and they made up for the struggles this time around. Both teams started off slow, but runs started to come in during the 4th inning. Brett Pirtle led off with a single, his first hit of the day, and after a CT Bradford strikeout, Cody Brown, who was making his first start as a Diamond Dawg, hit a triple that brought Pirtle home. Derrick Armstrong walked, Matthew Britton struck out, Gavin Collins walked, and Jake Vickerson, younger brother of former MSU player Nick Vickerson, had a 2 RBI single, which extended the Bulldog lead to 3. Alex Detz struck out to end the inning with a 3-0 lead.
The 5th inning is where Trevor Fitts' shutout chances ended. Aaron Attaway flew out, and Bradley Strong struck out, but was able to reach first base after the ball went away from the catcher, thus making the out count remain at one. Cody Jones flew out, but after a stolen base and a wild pitch, Strong advanced to third when Jacob Hoyle came up to the plate. Hoyle walked, but a wild pitch on the fourth ball resulted in a run scored by Bradley Strong. Adam Martin would strike out, and the Bulldogs would take over the bats, up 3-1.
Little offensive production for Western Carolina and many stranded runners for Mississippi State led to no runs for the next 3 innings. Trevor Fitts was replaced by Jacob Lindgren in the 7th inning. Lindgren didn't have a long stay on the mound, as he was replaced after two walks and a strike out. Memphis native Preston Brown came in after that, and lifted the Bulldogs out of the jam in the top of the 7th.
Mississippi State got hold of the bats in the bottom of the 8th up 3-1, and hoping to give all-American closer Jonathan Holder some extra breathing room with some more runs. The Bulldogs got just that. After an opening strikeout by Matthew Britton, Zach Randolph came in as a pinch hitter and got his first ever hit as a Bulldog with a single. Demarcus Henderson pinch hit, and was hit by a pitch to have runners on first and second. Alex Detz stepped up to the plate and got a single, loading the bases for first baseman Wes Rea. Before Rea could bat, though, Colton Davis replaced Alex Barr as pitcher for WCU. Wes Rea would hit a single, driving in Randolph and Henderson, and advancing Detz to second. Right after Wes, Brett Pirtle stepped up, and got a single, once again, loading up the bases for CT Bradford. Before Bradford could hit, though, John McClure replaced Colton Davis as pitcher for WCU. Bradford would walk, and Detz would score from 3rd, MSU taking a five run lead, bases loaded, one out, with Cody Brown stepping up to the plate. But, before Brown could hit, Taylor Durand replaced John McClure as pitcher for WCU. Durand would finish off the inning by striking out Brown and pinch hitter Daniel Garner, and MSU had a 6-1 advantage heading to the ninth.
Jonathan Holder had one pitch in the top of the 8th inning, and that was a strike to end the inning with a strikeout. Now, he has to pitch his first full inning of the 2014 campaign. Bradley Strong came up first... and grounded out. Next, Cody Jones had a shot at Holder... he grounded out. One person remained to try to get past Holder and save WCU for another batter, and that was Jacob Hoyle... he struck out. 1-2-3 to end the game for Jonathan Holder and Mississippi State. Final score - Fourth ranked Mississippi State 6, Western Carolina 1.
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