When A Plan Comes Together
April 26, 2023 | Baseball
PEARL – Even as badly as Chris Lemonis wanted to win the annual Governor's Cup game against in-state rival Ole Miss, the Mississippi State skipper was mindful of his pitching staff facing a short week.
Lemonis and pitching coach Scott Foxhall went into Tuesday night's contest at Trustmark Park with a strategy of utilizing several arms against the Rebels. And for the most part, everything went according to plan.
The Diamond Dawgs used six different pitchers and baffled Ole Miss' bats, limiting the Rebels to four scattered hits (all singles) in a 2-1 victory to claim the coveted crystal trophy for the fifth time in the last six years.
True freshman Evan Siary started the game and earned his first collegiate victory. The right-hander from Starkville Academy worked two scoreless frames before turning things over to Brock Tapper, who did the same. Parker Stinnett came on and retired the first six men he faced before the Rebels manufactured their lone run in the seventh inning.
Tyson Hardin struck out the first batter he saw looking in the eighth before a single and free pass forced Lemonis to summon KC Hunt to quell the potential rally with back-to-back strikeouts. Aaron Nixon worked a perfect ninth inning to seal the win and pickup his second save of the spring.
"That's how we laid it out this morning," Lemonis said following the game. "I thought Evan was great getting us out of the gate. Brock held his own. But I thought Parker Stinnett was the real glue of that game. He came in there and gave us some good innings. I'm trying to get my man Tyson Hardin going because he's really made some strides with his stuff. But I gave the shirt to KC Hunt tonight, coming in and getting us out of that jam and then Aaron Nixon was really good tonight. I thought his stuff was really good."
Siary was making just the second start of his career but was able to settle in early thanks to a run in the top of the first inning before he'd even toed the rubber. Colton Ledbetter and Hunter Hines delivered back-to-back doubles in the opening frame to put MSU on the board early.
"It just started out on the right foot for us," Siary said. "It helped with the offense coming out in the first inning and scoring the one run. It was easier to pitch with already having one run so I could fill up the strike zone for our defense to work."
After Siary and Tapper provided two scoreless innings apiece, Stinnett stood on the mound as sharp as ever. The Oxford native sat down the first six batters he encountered but ran into a bit of trouble in the after hitting the Rebels' leadoff hitter in the bottom of the seventh. A single sent the runner to third and a ground out gave Ole Miss a brief moment of momentum.
Stinnett, however, shut that down quickly and sent State into the dugout with the lead intact. He finished his three innings of work with three strikeouts, no walks and only one hit allowed.
"He's made some adjustments with his mechanics," Lemonis said. "I'm just happy for him to have some success tonight. I thought he was really good, poised. He's kind of a cocky kid when he's pitching good and you could kind of see him strut around the mound a little bit. Tonight, you could tell he felt good about his performance."
Hunt was able to get the Bulldogs out of another jam in the eighth after inheriting runners at first and second with one out. He notched a pair of punchouts, only tossing nine pitches to keep himself in the mix if needed for Thursday night's game at No. 24 Tennessee.
Nixon earned his second save by striking out two of the three Rebels he met and gives Mississippi State a solid closing option at the back end of its bullpen.
"It's huge for us to be able to have Nixon come in and throw his one or two innings, maybe even twice on a weekend," Stinnett said. "That guy is electric and we need him more than ever right now. Having some guys to get him the ball at the end of the game is a big deal for us."
Tuesday night's game may have been a bit of an audition for Siary, Stinnett, Tapper and others to earn some work in relief on the weekends during SEC play moving forward.
"With some guys down, we're really going to have to lean on some of those guys for some innings," Lemonis said.
