No Quit

OMAHA, Neb. – The runs kept coming. The arms kept dealing. The crowd got louder and louder. These Bulldogs haven't quit all year. They weren't about to start now.

MSU defeated Vanderbilt 13-2 on Tuesday to even up the College World Series Finals and set up a decisive, winner-take-all national championship game on Wednesday. Only about 24 hours after the Bulldogs dropped an 8-2 decision to the Commodores, State's no-quit style was on full display in Tuesday's affair.

All year long Mississippi State has proven its resiliency when it's been hit in the mouth. Needing to win to keep their season alive, the Bulldogs delivered their biggest counterpunch yet.

"Big bounce-back game from our guys," State head coach Chris Lemonis said. "It's just a resilient group. We've had our back against the wall feels like all year long and they just keep responding."

It was all gas, no brakes, all night long for Mississippi State in all facets of the game. There was a persistent offense that scored in five of its eight frames at the plate, putting together a 14-hit attack.

Every Bulldog in the starting nine had at least one hit. Tanner Allen, Luke Hancock, Scotty Dubrule and Lane Forsythe all had multiple hits. Dubrule had a four-RBI night, while Hancock and Forsythe drove in two apiece. It was a merciless showing that illustrated State's durability following Monday's tough result.

"We took a punch [Monday] and we came back and played really good baseball," Lemonis said. "We grinded out some at-bats early. Their [pitchers], had really good stuff but we didn't swing out of the zone. We were able to expand [the score in] that game."

There was big swing after big swing. Hancock's RBI single got the Bulldogs an early lead and got MSU off and running in the first. Dubrule drilled a two-run single to spearhead a four-run third inning. Forsythe knocked in a couple with a single in a five-run seventh that essentially put the game away.

And as for the Bulldog pitching? State couldn't have asked for more than the gutsy, incredibly strong performances of starter Houston Harding and reliever Preston Johnson.

Harding started and went four innings, allowing just a run and two hits. Johnson followed and went the rest of the way, giving up just a run and two hits himself.

"Just couldn't be more proud of those guys," Lemonis said of Johnson and Harding. "They gave us a chance and they pitched great. Commanded the zone, but it was just toughness. They were just tough all night long."

Oh by the way, the State pitching duo also left the Bulldogs in great position for Wednesday's championship battle. The MSU bullpen will be relatively fresh, including a rested star closer Landon Sims, who will enter Wednesday having not pitched at all in the CWS Finals.

"After the game, I grabbed Landon, I said, 'Man, it was sure nice not having to pitch you,'" Lemonis said. "I feel like in every win for the last month he has been out there. So for him to have the night off and to still get the victory was huge."

State's offense was relentless. Its pitching was dynamite. Helping fuel it all was a Bulldog fan base that also proved to have the same durability as the team they support.

Tuesday night at T.D. Ameritrade Park sounded more like a Friday night inside Dudy Noble Field. The chants of, 'Maroon-White', and, 'Let's go State' were deafening throughout the evening. If the Bulldogs needed an extra push to force a Game 3 on Wednesday, they had somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 to 20,000 of the State faithful to lift them there.

"It's really special," Lemonis said of the crowd. "Everett [Kennard], our bus driver, gave me a hard time on the way [to the stadium] because he could barely pull the bus out because of all the fans everywhere. He said, 'You didn't have this [when you used to play and coach] at The Citadel.' No, sir, we didn't. It's one of those things it's unique. It's not everywhere. And our fans, the passion they have for baseball and the history and the tradition; and it's a family program. So seeing everybody there, it was nice to win [Tuesday] because you'd hate for everybody to come and us not play well. I didn't feel like we played great [Monday]. So playing great [Tuesday] and giving them a chance to see us do something special [Wednesday] will be a big moment."

When it comes to those big moments, the Bulldogs have excelled all year. Just recently, they took out Campbell in a tight championship game in the Starkville Regional. State survived Game 3 against Notre Dame in the Super Regional. MSU took down Texas in a must-win game to win its side of the bracket and advance to the CWS Finals in the first place.

This is a team that doesn't wilt in the heat. When the temperature has risen, these Bulldogs have been at their best. And make no mistake about it, it's never been as hot as it's going to be on Wednesday night when, for the first time ever, the Bulldogs will go to the ballpark with the chance to win a game and take home a national championship. To do that, State insists it'll just keep doing what it has done all along to get to this point.

"We're going to remain cool, calm and collected," Dubrule said. "You just gotta take it a pitch at a time…We're just going to go out and do our thing."

Mississippi State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Tanner Allen

Scotty Dubrule

Lane Forsythe

Luke Hancock

Houston Harding

Preston Johnson

Landon Sims

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