College baseball roundup: Bulldogs smash records; Ole Miss and USM win series openers

Mississippi State started a must-win weekend with a record-breaking blowout.

The Bulldogs hit eight home runs — a single-game school record — and posted a season-high run total in routing Missouri 25-7 in the opener of a three-game series on Thursday.

Hunter Hines, Ace Reese and Reed Stallman hit two home runs each, and Noah Sullivan and Joe Powell went deep once for Mississippi State (32-20, 13-15 Southeastern Conference). The previous single-game record for home runs was six, which had been accomplished six times — most recently in 2022.

Hines’ second home run was also the 67th of his career, which ties him with Rafael Palmeiro for first place in school history.

It’s the first time the Bulldogs have scored more than 20 runs against an SEC opponent since beating Georgia 20-3 on March 20, 2022. It’s also the most in an SEC game since a 28-16 win over Kentucky in 1989.

Powell, Stallman and Reese all homered in the fourth inning as the Bulldogs scored four runs to take an 8-0 lead. Reese added another three-run shot in the sixth inning to make it 11-0.

The Bulldogs put an exclamation point on the win by erupting for 10 runs in the top of the ninth. Hines homered twice in the inning, while Sullivan hit a two-run home run. Steven Spalitta also contributed a two-run triple.

Reese finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and four runs scored, while Hines and Stallman had three RBIs apiece. The Bulldogs totaled 23 hits and 11 players had an RBI.

Mississippi State and Missouri (16-36, 3-25) will play again Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.

Mississippi State is trying to solidify its NCAA Tournament standing as it continued a late-season push. Thursday’s win was its seventh in eight games since head coach Chris Lemonis was fired and pitching coach Justin Parker was named the interim head coach.

Ole Miss 9, Auburn 2
Hunter Elliott pitched seven scoreless innings, Ryan Moerman drove in three runs, and Ole Miss (36-17, 15-13 SEC) picked up a needed win over Auburn (37-16, 16-12).

Elliott (8-3) finished with eight strikeouts, while allowing four hits and two walks in his longest outing of the season.

Ole Miss scored two unearned runs in the fifth inning, then back-to-back RBI singles by Collin Reuter and Moerman made it 4-0 in the sixth.

In the seventh, Judd Utermark and Moerman each delivered two-run singles as the Rebels scored five more runs to take a 9-0 lead.

Moerman finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Will Furniss also had three hits and scored twice.

Ole Miss entered the final weekend of the regular season having lost four of its last five SEC series. It’ll go for the series win Friday at 6 p.m. in Oxford. The teams will also play Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Southern Miss 4, Troy 3
Joey Urban homered leading off the top of the eighth inning to give Southern Miss (39-13, 22-6 Sun Belt Conference) the lead, and it hung on to beat Troy (37-17, 18-10) for its 13th consecutive victory.

Jake Cook was 2-for-5 and drove in two runs with a single in the fourth inning for Southern Miss. Ben Higdon also had two hits and scored a run.

After Urban’s home run put Southern Miss ahead 4-3, the Golden Eagles walked a tightrope in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The first two batters singled for Troy against USM reliever Colby Allen. Peyton Watts then popped out on a bunt attempt and Steven Meier grounded out, putting runners at second and third. Allen got Houston Markham to ground out to first to end the game.

Allen pitched the last three innings to get the win. J.B. Middleton started and went six innings, striking out six batters while allowing two runs.

Southern Miss and Troy will play again Friday at 6 p.m., then finish the regular season Saturday at 3:30. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.

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