No. 9 Dawgs Drop Series Finale To Tennessee

Sunday, April 12

Starkville

1 p.m.

Mississippi State

26-10, 7-8

Tennessee

24-12, 7-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Tennessee	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	7	9	0
Mississippi State	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	6	0

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

No. 9 Dawgs Drop Series Finale To Tennessee

April 12, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

STARKVILLE - No. 9 Mississippi State couldn't recover from an early deficit or a late surge by Tennessee, falling 7-2 to the Volunteers on Sunday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.

The Diamond Dawgs (26-10, 7-8 SEC) managed just six hits and were unable to string together sustained offense against a Tennessee pitching staff that kept MSU off balance most of the day.

Tennessee (24-12, 7-8 SEC) wasted little time grabbing control. The Volunteers struck for two runs in the opening inning, using a leadoff hit-by-pitch and a double to set the tone before Henry Ford delivered an RBI single. A double-play ball still brought home another run, giving the Vols a quick 2-0 advantage.

Mississippi State chipped away in the fourth. Aidan Teel singled to start the inning and later scored when Noah Sullivan grounded out, trimming the deficit to 2-1. But that would be as close as the Bulldogs would get for much of the afternoon.

The Volunteers extended their lead in the sixth. After a walk and a ground-rule double put runners in scoring position, Ford added another RBI with a groundout before Blake Grimmer followed with a run-scoring single to push the margin to 4-1.

State showed life again in the seventh when Chone James doubled with two outs and later scored on a Reed Stallman single up the middle, cutting the lead to 4-2 and energizing the home crowd of 10,376.

However, that momentum didn't last.

Tennessee put the game away in the ninth inning, plating three runs on four hits, highlighted by Levi Clark's two-run double down the right-field line that broke things open.

Evan Blanco (3-2) earned the win for Tennessee, allowing two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings while striking out six. Bo Rhudy closed it out for his second save.

For Mississippi State, Charlie Foster (0-2) took the loss after allowing four runs over 5 1/3 innings. Ben Davis surrendered three runs in relief.

Offensively, the Bulldogs got two hits from Gehrig Frei while James and Stallman each delivered RBIs for MSU.

The Diamond Dawgs venture out on a four-game road swing beginning at Samford on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

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