Baseball falls to No. 4 Mississippi State to open Amegy Bank College Baseball Series

Turning point
In a battle of two phenomenal pitchers, the first half of the game flew by with neither team recording a hit until the fifth inning. Cole Carlon retired 11 consecutive batters in the potent MSU lineup heading into that frame before giving up a one-out single. That would mark the start of an abysmal stretch of tough luck for the Sun Devils. Carlon looked to have gotten out of the frame with a strike-’em out, throw-’em out double play but the pitch (which was was logged as a strike in the tracking systems) was ruled ball four instead, putting runners one first and second with one out. Carlon got a flyout for the second out before getting the next MSU batter to ground one into the dirt immediately in front of home. The ball took an insane hop off the packed dirt, clearing the head of Austen Roellig at third base for an RBI single. To add injury to insult, Carlon was struck by a severe bout of cramps while covering home on the play which proved intense enough to chase him from the game. Forced into having to throw an emergency pitcher into the game on a short warm-up, Josh Butler was tagged for a three-run homer on the first pitch he saw as the pitcher’s duel turned into 4-0 deficit in the blink of an eye.

Big moment
ASU responded in the top of the sixth with a leadoff double from Roellig followed by a Briggs walk. However, Landon Hairston immediately laced a ground ball that just happened to go to a perfectly positioned first baseman for an easy double play, despite scoring a run and getting the Devils back within 4-1. With MSU pitcher Ryan McPherson starting to give up a lot of hard contact and showing his first signs of laboring in the game, ASU looked to still be very much in the game. However, MSU quickly put up three runs without an out in the bottom half of the frame on three singles and a walk to extend the lead to 7-1, an advantage which would prove to be insurmountable.

Final straw
After the two teams exchanged runs in the eighth, Dominic Longo and Dominic Smaldino each homered in the top of the ninth inning to cut the lead to 8-4 but was unable to claw any closer.

Inning by inning
First inning
Moutzouridis laced one to the right center field gap but a nice play by the MSU right fielder saved extra bases and ASU was unable to do any damage in the frame. The Bulldogs notched a two-out walk that stole second after Contrades unfortunately dropped the throw down to second but Carlon picked up his second strikeout of the frame to strand the batter there.

Second inning
The Sun Devils went down quickly in order on just six pitches. Carlon responded by striking out the side on his own, bumping it up to five straight outs via strikeout.

Third inning
The Devils made a bit of loud contact in the frame but right at MSU defenders as McPherson went nine up and nine down for the Bulldogs the first time through the ASU order. Carlon worked another 1-2-3 inning, capped by his sixth strikeout of the contest to keep things scoreless through three.

Fourth inning
Hairston laced a 108 MPH ground ball to lead off the inning, unfortunately right to the MSU first baseman for an out. Moutzouridis was the first baserunner of the day for ASU on a full-count walk but an immediately double play marked just the minimum again for the Devils. After two quick outs and two quick strikes, Mississippi State called an offensive timeout to try and slow Carlon down but it would go for naught as Carlon got a backwards K on the next pitch to set down his 10th batter in a row.

Fifth inning
Toigo got the first base knock of the game for either team with a two-out single to right but ASU was unable to do more than that. MSU ended Carlon’s streak of retired batters at 11 with a one out single for their first hit of the game as well and a walk would put him in his first jam of the game. An unlucky two-out chopper over the third baseman’s head would bring in the first run of the game. It was a double whammy as Cole Carlon suffered some significant cramping on the play and had to exit the game. Josh Butler was forced into action on short notice with still two runners on base and immediately gave up a three-run homer to give MSU a 4-0 lead. Toigo made a great leaping grab in deep right center to save extra bases and keep things from spiraling further.

Sixth inning
Roellig led off with a double down the left field line. Briggs drew a walk and Roellig took third on a passed ball to put runners on the corners with no outs. But the bad luck continued with Hairston lacing right into an easy double play at first, though it did score a run to get ASU on the board. Moutzouridis got a two-out single to keep the pressure on but another tough-luck out to left would keep it a 4-1 game.

The wheels came off in the bottom half of the frame with the first four batters reaching and blowing the game open to a 7-1 lead. Colby Guy entered and inherited the mess but was able to limit the damage to three runs, stranding the bases loaded and not allowing any runs.

Seventh inning
Michel had a leadoff single and Toigo notched a one-out walk to put two on but ASU couldn’t do anything with it with yet another line drive right at a defender stranding the pair. Musso was able to strand a pair of walks in a scoreless seventh.

Eighth inning
Hairston notched a one-out double and took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sac fly from Moutzouridis but that was all the damage ASU could manage. MSU immediately got the run back with a solo shot in the bottom of the frame to make it 8-2.

Ninth inning
The Sun Devils got a pair of homers from Dominic Longo and Dominic Smaldino to get back within 8-4 but were unable to mount the late inning rally.