Baseball Falls at Arkansas on Friday Night

Friday, April 19

Fayetteville, Ark.

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

32-8, 10-7

#12 Arkansas

29-10, 11-6

Mississippi State

Arkansas

Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics

Baseball Falls at Arkansas on Friday Night

April 19, 2019 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Mangum moves hitting streak to 20 games, Foscue hits 11th home run of the season

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After falling behind by five early in the game, the No. 3 Mississippi State baseball program pulled within two midway through the contest, before a five-run seventh inning capped off a 12-5 loss at No. 10 Arkansas on Friday (April 19) inside Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Razorbacks (29-10, 11-6 SEC) pushed out to an early 7-2 lead with a run in the first, four in the second and one apiece in the third and fourth innings. The Bulldogs (32-8, 10-7 SEC) got a pair of runs back in the third inning, before a fifth-inning, three-run home run from sophomore Justin Foscue pulled MSU within two, 7-5. A five-run seventh capped the scoring for Arkansas to account for the 12-5 final score.

Offensively, MSU's five hits came from five different Bulldogs, while eight different Diamond Dawgs reached base. Sophomore Jordan Westburg and junior Gunner Halter both reached base twice, each collecting a hit and walking. Senior Jake Mangum moved his hitting streak to 20 games with an RBI single in the third, while Foscue homered for the 11th time this season.

Junior Dustin Skelton singled and scored in the third inning to move his reached base streak to 24 games and added a hit-by-pitch later in the game. Senior Elijah MacNamee walked to drive in a run, while sophomores Tanner Allen and Rowdey Jordan walked to round out the offense.

Senior Peyton Plumlee (2-3) took the loss, allowing five runs – four earned – on three hits and three walks.

Quotable
Head Coach Chris Lemonis
On what he said to the team after the game
"When you don't pitch and play defense it just makes it hard to compete, especially in an environment like [Arkansas had tonight]. We have to do a better job tomorrow and we have to get a better start [on the mound]. We have some guys left in our bullpen, but as a group and as a whole, we have to come out, play together and give a better effort."

Quick Hitters
Mississippi State
Jake Mangum – Moved his hitting streak to 20 games with an RBI single in the third inning.
Jordan Westburg – Reached base twice, collecting a hit and a walk.
Gunner Halter – Reached base twice, collecting a hit and a walk.
Dustin Skelton – Pushed his reached base streak to 24 games with a third inning single. Also was hit-by a pitch.

Arkansas
Casey Martin – Hit a grand slam to account for his four RBIs, also scored three runs, reaching via a single and three walks.
Casey Opitz – Drove in three RBIs on a three-hit night.
Working the Walk – Arkansas posted 12 hits, but also capitalized on 16 Mississippi State walks in the game. Nine of 10 Razorbacks that played earned at least one walk in the game.

Scoring Recap
Bottom First
Peyton Plumlee saw a lot of traffic on the base paths in the opening frame, walking two batters and allowing one hit to load the bases with one out. Heston Kjerstad then grounded into a fielder's choice, beating the double play throw to first, to plate the first run of the game.
Arkansas 1, Mississippi State 0

Bottom Second
Jacob Nesbit reached on an error to start the inning and, following a flyout to left field, the next three Razorback hitters reached, capped by a grand slam from Casey Martin to account for the four runs in the frame.
Arkansas 5, Mississippi State 0

Top Third
State put some traffic on the base paths against Arkansas starting pitcher Patrick Wicklander, as a pair of base hits from Dustin Skelton and Gunner Halter put two on with one out. Jake Mangum singled to center field to score the first run of the frame, before Jordan Westburg walked to load the bases. With two outs, Elijah MacNamee worked a walk to push the second run of the inning across.
Arkansas 5, Mississippi State 2

Bottom Third
A leadoff walk to Kjerstad was followed by a pair of wild pitches, before Casey Opitz singled up the middle to push the run across.
Arkansas 6, Mississippi State 2

Bottom Fourth
The first three hitters reached base against reliever Keegan James in his second inning of work, with Matt Goodheart collecting an RBI with a triple down the right-field line.
Arkansas 7, Mississippi State 2

Top Fifth
A one-out single from Westburg and a walk for Tanner Allen put two runners on base, and Justin Foscue hit his 11th home run of the season with two outs to pull State within two.
Arkansas 7, Mississippi State 5

Bottom Seventh
A leadoff walk was followed by a bunt base hit, before reliever Cole Gordon got a strikeout for the first out of the inning. Another walk loaded the bases, before Gordon got another strikeout to give the Diamond Dawgs two outs in the inning. Back-to-back walks were followed by a single to right field, which was misplayed and cleared the bases to account for the final margin.
Arkansas 12, Mississippi State 5

Up Next
The Diamond Dawgs and Razorbacks will play the series finale at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 20. The game will be available on the Mississippi State Sports Network and SEC Network+, via the ESPN app and http://www.espn.com/watch/.