Mississippi State Drops Midweek Contest at Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Two doubles by Hunter Stovall were Mississippi State’s offensive highlight as the Bulldogs dropped a 6-1 decision to Memphis, Wednesday night at AutoZone Park.

MSU (19-19) was held to five hits but used strong pitching from Denver McQuary and Keegan James to remain in the contest.

“It was a disappointing night all the way around,” MSU head coach Gary Henderson said. “In the seventh inning, a leadoff walk hurt us. We followed with an intentional walk to set up the double play ball and that led to a four-spot. We need to hit more balls hard and have crisper at-bats.”

Memphis (13-25) built a 2-0 lead on a solo home run by Alec Trela in the second inning and a sacrifice fly by Cale Hennemann in the third inning.

MSU broke through in the seventh inning. Tanner Allen hit a leadoff triple and scored a double by Stovall. A walk to Josh Hatcher followed. However, the Bulldogs saw three straight outs before pushing the game-tying run across.

The Tigers then put the game away with four runs in the home half of the seventh inning.

McQuary (1-2) threw three innings, allowing three hits and two runs (both earned), with three strikeouts and a walk. James followed with three innings of shutout relief.

Jared Liebelt started the seventh inning. He would then give way to Blake Smith. Zach Neff would follow, getting the Bulldogs out of the seventh inning before finishing the contest.

Trela finished with four of Memphis’ 10 hits. Connor Alexander (2-2) threw six innings to earn the win, while Hunter Smith finished the contest for his second save.

State will return home to Dudy Noble Field for a three-game Southeastern Conference series against No. 3 Arkansas as part of MSU’s annual Super Bulldog Weekend. For tickets and additional information, visit HailState.com/SBW.