Bats Come Alive for Mississippi State After Lemonis' Ejection in 10-4 Win Over Memphis
"Stagnant" was the word to describe Mississippi State baseball for the first five innings of Tuesday's midweek matchup with the Memphis Tigers.
Through those innings, the Bulldogs had failed to put a single run on the board, while Memphis had tacked on four in as much time.
MSU desperately needed a spark -- and it got a bit of an unconventional one when head coach Chris Lemonis was ejected in the fifth inning, throwing his hat on the ground and giving home plate umpire Brandon Bennett a piece of his mind.
"They were ramming it up our butts there for about four or five innings," catcher Logan Tanner said. "We didn't play too well. Then, (Lemonis) gets thrown out. First time I've ever seen that. I was kinda nervous when he came up there to the plate."
From there, Tanner said the Bulldogs "refocused" which is an understatement as the team completely turned the momentum in their favor, turning in a six-run sixth inning.
Kamren James homered to left field, scoring Jess Davis, and Tanner wasted no time also homering to left field two batters later. The Bulldogs had taken a 6-4 lead at that point, holding Memphis scoreless for the remainder of the contest and adding four more runs of their own between the seventh and the eighth inning.
MSU worked its bullpen throughout the game, sending five different pitchers to the mound, starting Brandon Smith. He put in three innings of work, allowing three hits and one run as he faced 13 batters.
KC Hunt saw action for the first time since he started on opening weekend, pitching one inning in which he allowed two hits while walking one before Drew Talley (one inning), Mike Tepper (one inning) and Jackson Fristoe (three innings) finished things out, pitching a combined five innings, allowing three hits one run and walking three -- both Tepper and Fristoe pitched scoreless innings.
With the victory, the Bulldogs improve to 16-10 overall on the season and will look to stay in the win column as they face the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road Friday in the first contest of a three-game series.